Depicted Flames
by DragonsEatCandy
Summary: A young hunter's tale of rising from the ashes and saving the world of Azeroth.
1. The Beginning

In a world where magic coexisted with poverty and famine, in a place where death was never the end, heroes rose from ashes and fought for their freedom- under the Alliance, Horde or even worse, the Lich King.

As every young future hope of every city, village and town became of age, they were all sorted into 10 different classes: warriors, paladins, hunters, rogues, priests, shaman, mages, warlocks and druids. There were also the lower class people who never saw the war their gifted friends had to go to. They were simple people, farmed and built houses. They were the heart of the world, the ones needed to be protected, and the ones wars were fought for.

This story though, begins in a small village called Northshire in the depths of Elwynn forest where four young humans had just reached the age of 18 and had to be sorted into classes. The oldest was Joe, a fine muscular boy who had been 18 for almost 3 moons now, then came Ulof, a lonely boy who had spent almost all his life reading books and memorizing spells, Tessa- a beautiful and athletic girl who had had a sword for many years now and the youngest was Zacklrina- just an ordinary daughter of two farmers who had worked on the fields as long as she could remember. Before them stood Northshire's only mage Hectrix. The four of them were all in nice clean clothes and stood straightly before the mage, to show their desperation of wanting to be a hero.

The old man's hair was barely visible, ancient and gray. His legs and arms were shaking as he sat down on a wooden chair. "I foresee 3 great heroes coming from this year's choosing."

Joe and Tessa sneered at Zacklrina, knowing that she was the one to remain a farm girl for the rest of her life. She had no high expectations of this ritual but deep inside always longed to be something more than a farmer.

"Tessa Highburg, come before me," coughed the mage.

Tessa's face was more evil than anything Hectrix had seen before. "The Gods tell me you are to be named a rogue. You will be great in melee damage and fight in many, many wars."

This had been no surprise for any of them but Tessa seemed to be a little baffled. Maybe it was the secret wish of becoming a warrior.

"Ulof, the one without a father…" continued the mage, "the tides will be out of order and the Kings need more people like you. A mage you shall be, by the power I hold in me."

Ulof had known magic since 5 and had foreseen his life path therefore he thanked the old mage and went back to stand with his comrades without making a big deal about his prediction.

Now Joe and Zacklrina were the last two remaining. Joe had no chance of losing this game to the farmer girl and spit on her shirt. "You don't even deserve to be a farmer!" he pointed out. "This one can't even carry a bucket of water!"

Zacklrina stepped away from the big guy and looked down and her stained shirt. Her mother had made this from precious linen cloth just for this ritual. Linen cloth was hard to come by in her family. She sighed knowing that between her and Joe, he would definitely be the third worthy enough to become a great hero of Azeroth.

"True," Hectrix mumbled… "But _you _can."

Everyone was a little bit confused.

"Joe, son of the great Chief Rockwood, I name you Northshire's Chief of food and buildings."

"Excuse, but what in the name of Gods is this?" the great Chief Rockwood rose from his chair a little further away from the ritual. "I've been training him in the ways of the warrior for years, this cannot be true!"

Young Joe was drowning in disappointment and humility as well as boiling with fear."So you mean that _Zacklrina_ here is becoming a warrior? Instead of me?!" he shouted at the old man.

Hectrix stood up from the chair and looked Zacklrina in the eye. "Joe, Northshire will fall to the darkness of Deathwing if we don't have a good leader. And no, Zacklrina won't become a warrior. As you said, she is too weak. Therefore she will concentrate on being a hunter. A real hunter's bow is as light as a feather, as swift as a Stormwind gryphon and as silent as death itself. You will feel pain and you will suffer. But for the sake of this broken world, this is the path that's chosen for you by the Gods."

For a moment Zacklrina had considered this a dream. She heard her parents' faint cheering and crying from behind and saw the warm smile of the mage. In a couple of seconds her life as a farmer had become a life as a hunter.

"Listen up, dear people of Northshire!" called Hectrix. "I will give Tessa the knives of blood for her long lonesome journey to her new guild Blood-Brothers, where other rogues will teach her the right ways. Ulof will stay with me as for I am the greatest mage in these forests and know a little about magic so I will get him started. But Zacklrina, the path you have before you is the longest. You must travel to the capital of the Alliance, Stormwind and obtain a pet. If you earn enough money, buy a horse. Your destination is in the Arathi Highlands, 3 regions from here. You will all start your journeys today but make sure to visit your class trainer first…"

Everyone was still a little shocked by Zacklrina's achievement.

"Hurry now! The evil does not wait!" Hectrix commanded.

Before Zacklrina could think of anything her family was around her, hugging and congratulating. Her mother was crying but they weren't tears of happiness. Her father was proud, a tear in his eye. Her younger twin brothers, 12, were jumping up and down mimicking archery and the youngest, the 5-year-old Bella was just smiling and hugging her leg.

"I will hurry home and make everything ready for you," her mother cried and hugged her.

"Mother, please…"

As her mother hurried home, her father put his hand on her shoulder. "You have no idea how proud I am," he smiled. "Promise to return someday and tell us how you shot an arrow into the Lich King!"

They both laughed. Everyone laughed. But this time out of happiness.


	2. Goldshire

"You must understand, Zacklrina, this is a hard road you have and many don't survive the way to their guild. Once you're there the danger hasn't ended. The danger never ends. But once you really are there, a hunter will be assigned for you. You will travel all the lands of the Eastern Kingdoms and when you become talented enough you will travel to Outland, Kalimdor, Northrend and Deepholm. You've probably never even heard of these places but the monsters you will fight and kill are unimaginable. You will swim and fly and run for your life, you will fight and fight and train until your body can't handle it anymore. Your clothes will be dripping from sweat and blood and sometimes you just want to give up. But that is the way of the hunter and once you are good enough, nothing will stop you," the hunter trainer spoke excitedly.

She was just sitting quietly on the grass watching the trainer. "Why aren't you fighting for the Alliance?"

"Every village needs a trainer and well sometimes… Being a true hero doesn't suit everyone so King Varian asked me to step aside from the bigger battles and give a head start to youngsters like you," he explained. "But you must go now. Northshire will always be here for you. And in our hearts you will always exist. The sad thing is, we never know where you really are, drinking rum with dwarves or rotting in a hole somewhere. Be safe."

Zacklrina had gotten some basic hunter clothing of animal skin, 2 small bags for water, medicine and food, a starter bow with arrows and pouch of all the silver coins her family had.

Before the stone gates of Northshire stood Tessa and Zacklrina, waiting for their journeys to begin.

"I'll walk to Goldshire with ya, from there you go to Stormwind," Tessa comforted Zacklrina and annoyingly chewed gum.

"Stay on the bigger roads and kill only if necessary," Zack's mother kissed her forehead.

"We must go now," she told her mother and stepped through the gate.

"We will always be waiting," her father saluted her as she and Tessa walked further away from the gates of Northshire.

A few moments passed in silence. Not complete silence though, the birds were chirping and wind blew through the branches of old oaks. It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for young hunters to look for prey. The road was big enough and soon they could see the blue roofs of Goldshire.

"I got two blades o' blood, y'know. They're legendary I 'ear," Tessa said.

Zacklrina looked at her new gear and softly touched the edge of her bow. "We're gonna be killing a lot of stuff from here on … right?"

"Looks as if you haven't even killed a rat," Tessa laughed.

"Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. Maybe Hectrix is getting too old…"

"Oi, Zack, shut it. Listen, we all knew Joe was a douche. Everyone just talked to him not to get beaten up… And well ya were never were friends with him. Yer strong, I can feel it! I may not be a mage or a damn shaman to know the future, Z, but I know this. We are destined for greatness."

As the two girls approached the village they could already see foreign races of blue goats and purple elves. Everyone had their own shiny or leather armor and powerful weapons. Many rode on dragons, gryphons and horses.

"Hoooly cow," Tessa chuckled. "I'm gon' grab a beer in the local inn now that I'm finally of age," she laughed. "Have a drink with me, it may be the last."

Zacklrina was a quiet and good girl. Being in an inn with drunken strangers didn't sound inviting. "No, that's okay. I'll just grab a gryphon and fly to Stowmwind. My trainer said it's completely free."

"Oooh, girl, you've never even ridden a horse. Be careful, I tell ya. It may be a little tricky at first," Tessa warned as a drunken dwarf approached them.

Zacklrina saluted Tessa, giving her a last goodbye and left as fast as possible not to get involved with stuff like this. As she pushed her way through the strangers she saw a man staring at her. A man in dark blue clothes, a hood over his head. His eyes were gleaming blue and his sword was huge. She had only heard stories about death knights but apparently they were real. They were normal villagers taken from their homes and transformed into fighters for the Lich King. But some of them had escaped the evilness and joined guilds. Or well that's what everyone was saying.

In the small crowd it wasn't hard to hear the gryphons' roars next to the Ironmaster's house. The huge half lions, half eagles were sitting in their nests full of hay, watching people.

"Hello, I need a ride to Stormwind, please," Zack stepped up the the gryphon master.

"Oh, you're a new one, aren't you?" the man asked.

"Afraid so. Got picked today."

"It's nothing to worry about. Riding a gryphon is as easy as riding a horse."

"I've never even seen a horse up close," she admitted.

The master laughed. "There's always a first time."

He told a gryphon to stand up and the huge animal rose from its nest. The eagle claws landed first on the rough land and soft lion paws came after. It was a huge and a beautiful creature. Zacklrina could feel the heat coming from its body. She couldn't decide whether his eyes were angry or friendly.

"It's so … big," she mumbled.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" the master laughed as he suddenly lifted the girl on the beast.

She gasped and felt the warm soft animal under her legs. It was a living creature. It was moving.

"Just hold on tight to the saddle. They know where to go. Clever beasts. Never underestimate a gryphon's loyalty."

Zacklrina couldn't even say anything before the huge animal took off and flew under the trees of Elwynn forest, faster than anything she'd experienced before. The wind was blowing through her hair, there was a weird feeling in her stomach as excitement rushed through her body. She saw dire wolves underneath them, coming and going. There were strange plants and trees and even some strange people. The ride wasn't really long and soon the gryphon landed in the wall of Stormwind. She came off the gryphon and took a few breaths. Here she saw some gryphons for sale and another gryphon master.

"Another new one. Finally you guys are starting to arrive. And a hunter, I see," the new master studied her. "Do you know the way?"

"I have never left my home village," Z stuttered.

"Hah! I've lived in Stormwind for ages but still don't make heads or tails of the city," he laughed. Nah, I'm just scaring ya. Go down these steps into the city, then walk straight until a news post, it's big, hard to miss, go right into the old town and ask for directions to the riding master, they'll give you a pet there.

"Right…"

"Hey, don't worry. All of us have a slow beginning. If you need any help, just ask. There are rules in Stormwind which don't apply in war. But you haven't even seen war, I guess," he wondered. "May the light guide you. I believe your assigned mentor will show you the ways but for now go get a pet and find your way to the guild. Good luck."

Zacklrina smiled and thanked the gryphon master. As she walked down the stone stairs she could smell spices and ale and garlic. The city was crowded with weird people and many of them had strange looking mounts. It was like in Goldshire but much more exclusive. It was breathtaking.

As she carefully followed the directions she caught the same man again. This time though he was silently talking to a vendor and closely watched Zacklrina as she easily found her way to a small courtyard where the horses were.

"Ah, a new hunter!" the lady in a green dress shouted. "Over here!"

She made her way to the lady and instantly was given a young gray wolf.

"Doesn't it bite?" she asked laughing.

"No, no! He will be yours forever. Fight by his side and you'll never be alone. To be honest, I think it's great to be a hunter. You're never alone," she winked at her.

Zack petted the young wolf and it seemed to be happy. The wolf licked her hand and its tail wiggled.

"Does it howl?" Zack asked in curiosity.

"You have no idea. His name's Scythe. Of course you can name him again but that's the name he has grown up with. He was a small pup and we thought he'd die. But now he's really playful and loves to hunt birds. If you have no experience in hunting then he will be very useful."

"Well then," Zack kneeled and scratched the wolf's ears. "Let's go hunting.


	3. The Journey

A month had passed since the teenagers of Northshire had gotten their titles. Zacklrina with her wolf Scythe, was by now far, far away from her home, hunting and killing beasts to earn money, gain experience and even make a few friends along the way. Though it wasn't all sunshine and games. She had taken the underground tram to Ironforge, the capital of the dwarves where it wasn't very possible to do any of the quests with a sober mind. It was a snowy and hilly region with white hares to eat, bears and wolves to hunt. On the way she had encountered a few elemental beasts but the worst was yet to come. It had always snowed in Dun Morogh therefore a warm coat would have been perfect like all the dwarves and gnomes had but Zacklrina only had her hunter clothes which she bought with her money or earned as a reward.

After the cold region, she travelled to another dwarf region Loch Modan. It was much warmer there but the whole land was very wet as was the next region Wetlands. Wetlands was the last region before the Arathi Highlands where the main house of the famous Knights of Sin guild was.

She arrived to Dun Modr on a black horse, Scythe running behind. Here was the border of Wetlands and Arathi Highlands. The dwarves here seemed to be a little different a little more grumpy. Tired from travelling for so long she dismounted from the horse touched the side of her bow just to be certain she had it if anything were to happen.

"You cannot pass," an old grumpy dwarf strutted on his donkey.

"But I need to. My guild is in the Arathi Highlands."

The dwarf studied the young hunter and blew his nose. "Never seen you going there before. How do I know you're not just another runaway kid wanting to be a hero?"

"I assure you, dear dwarf, I'm not a runaway, I was sent from Elwynn-"

"Stop right there! You think just because I'm small that I believe everything you say?"

"No, I didn't mean it like.."

The dwarf suddenly took his axe and came down from his donkey. "This is _my _village and these are _my_ rules. _You. Shall. Not. Pass_."

There was a moment of silence between the baffled hunter and angry dwarf. Zacklrina felt like the whole month of travelling and training had been entirely for nothing. Now she was stuck in the Wetlands where everyone was half of her height and drunk. Her whole imagination of being in an awesome guild was broken by this small dwarf. This one lazy-ass drunken dwarf who was stinking of rum and piss. As he made his way back to where he had come from, Zacklrina saddled her horse, whistled to Scythe and signaled her horse to gallop through the people towards Arathi Highlands. This miniature piece of dump wasn't going to stop Zacklrina the hunter from getting to her guild.

The horse neighed loudly as they galloped through the town towards the huge stone bridge where nothing stopped them. For a second, she looked behind and saw the dwarf just looking at her, doing nothing.

When they finally touched the ground of Arathi Highlands even the weather changed. The wet air turned dry and the air was warmer. She could see orange raptors walking in the distant plains and birds in the sky. She was here. At last.

It wasn't hard to find the building showed by many signs by the road. It was a complex building made of stone and rock and metal. There seemed to be no guards outside, just a lot of mounts in stables and she heard voices from inside. In front of the door stood 4 black armored stallions, all had blue eyes. Horses of death knights? They didn't seem to belong here.

She came down from the horse and rubbed its neck.

"Stay here. Scythe, come," she ordered the wolf to follow as she opened the front door. "This is it, Scythe, we're a part of the Knights of Sin now…"

They opened the wooden door but nobody noticed them. There was a big room with chairs and a huge fireplace. The ground was covered with a huge carpet and different people were all around. Scythe was puzzled by the many different scents.

"You must be the new hunter," a draenei woman approached her with a warm smile. "I'm Adorica. Welcome to the Knights of Sin… We have foreign guests at the moment but don't mind them. Go find Andri, he's our best hunter. If he likes you, you'll get him as your mentor. You'll recognize him easily, the one with the blue spirit wolf."

Zacklrina couldn't even say anything before she was pressed into the big crowd of strong fighters.

"Oh sorry," she mumbled as the draenei forced them to the biggest chairs, were apparently the guild leader and co-leader were. She was thrown in front of the chairs, where a big gap was. Struggling not to fall she stood up and commanded Scythe to sit down.

"I uhh.."

Nobody listened. The 3 chairs were occupied by three big men. On the right was a human warrior by the looks of it, in the middle a worgen rogue and on the left there was a night elf with long dark green hair and leather and mail clothing. He was far bigger than Zacklrina with strong muscles and a well fed wolf lying beside him. The blue wolf. The spirit wolf. _He_ was Andri. He was the strong and heroic hunter of the Knights of Sin. Zacklrina immediately felt fear. He looked so evil and his wolf looked as if it was ready to shred Scythe to pieces and eat the remains.

"Excuse me!" Zack said with frustration but no one heard her. "That's it," she muttered in anger and shot an arrow directly between Andri and the worgen.

Pheeeeeeeeeew CHOP the arrow wobbled in the wall. Everyone got silent as Andri and the worgen looked at Zacklrina with surprised eyes. She was ready to get beaten up because now the fear turned even bigger and bigger as everyone's eyes judged her.

"I am a hunter from Elwynn forest and 1 moon ago I was chosen to come to this guild."

There was no answer from any of them when finally the spirit wolf barked once.

"A hunter, she says," laughed Andri and all the others, guests included, burst into a huge, mocking laughter. "Well, hunter of Elwynn, do you have a name?"

"I'm Zackl-"

The laughter was unstoppable. Every single human, dwarf, worgen, draenei and gnome laughed with evilness at her boyish name. She felt alone. She felt angry. This was supposed to be a great moment for her. But this guild sucked more than anything.


	4. Drawback

The poor hunter ran out of the house, shoving people out of her way. Once she was outside she saw the sun starting to set as the sky was light orange and yellow. The wind was softer now and she could hear the evening sounds of bugs singing. This wasn't a bad place at all, much better than Wetlands or Loch Modan. She found a quiet place on a grassy hill, away from the raptors and the sounds of the house and sat down. She had never been a softie, even with Joe she never let herself down. Nevertheless, this time she was completely broken up. All the wonderful dreams of becoming a known hunter and be a part of a friendly guild had faded away. Into the evil laughter of the guild itself.

Scythe lied down beside her and whined softly. He wasn't happy either for the blue wolf had scared him.

Zacklrina had a few moments to herself as she petted her pet when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you," a deep and warm voice said. And it was a little familiar.

Zack looked up only to see the tall, big night elf beside her. Her stomach started swirling again but this time it wasn't fear. It was just swirling because she was talking to _the _famous hunter all alone.

"I'm Andri, the Ambassador of Knights of Sin. I don't believe we've quite met," he continued and sat down beside her.

Zacklrina couldn't even say anything because she didn't understand how a person could change that quickly.

"That was a nice trick with the arrow," he hinted. I'm impressed."

She couldn't do anything but blush.

"But I really am sorry about what happened before. We had guests from the Ghostlands and they don't like newcomers so we had to put on a good show. I do hope you forgive me for that," He apologized and patted her back.

"It's—It's okay. I uhh.. I understand."

"We gave you quite a scare, didn't we?" Andri tried laughing.

"I'm just a bit confused is all," Z tried to hide her tears of relief.

"Come on now, we'll get you settled right in," he insisted.

The sun began to melt by the horizon and the girl's eyes couldn't hide her true feelings anymore. "I've never seen the sunset. Never even seen the ocean until I first visited Stormwind."

"You haven't seen a lot of things, darling," Andri stood up and helped Zack as well. "At least you arrived safely. Not at a good time but safely. It's really hard to hear news that a new member of ours didn't make it. Poor kids. Just reached eighteen and already killed by evil."

The young hunter listened to Andri's every word like they were prayers. As they walked back to the house Zack noticed something.

"Where's your wolf?"

"Nightshadow, you mean. He's resting. Got a bad case of fever, that one."

"Will he be alright?"Zacklrina started to worry.

"Yes, of course. It's nothing to worry about," he looked down at the girl. "You seem hungry. When did you last sleep in a bed or got something to eat?"

"Can't really remember, a lot of weird things have happened lately," she joked which made the night elf laugh his deep and friendly laughter.

"So _will you_ teach me in the ways of the hunter?" Zack finally asked the question her stomach was swirling for.

"Is there someone else you prefer?" Andri asked and opened the door for her.

She could only let out a small happy sigh. "'I don't know any other hunters like you," she admitted.

"_Like me_? What things do people say about me back in Elwynn?"

"You've been there?"

"Long story short, I've been everywhere, Zack… Is that even your real name?"

"It's Zacklrina but _you_ wouldn't let me finish," she reminded him.

"Let's not get too cocky now. And I apologized for that."

The night elf showed Zack the kitchen with cabinets and a magic cold box with cold meat, potatoes, carrots, beat and cabbages. There was a long wooden dining table for at least 20 people where apparently the guild had their meals.

"How many of you are here?"

"A little over a hundred but half of them are fighting wars, some of them are probably dead and all of the class chiefs have gone to the learning journey with their apprentices. Well except me."

They walked up the stairs and Scythe looked sadly at Nightshadow. He had understood what Andri had said.

"Did I arrive too late?"

Andri smiled again. "No, no. Considering you came from Elwynn, 1 moon is a fairly normal time to arrive. Most of our new members are a little more experienced as the many region Lords send their trained sons and daughters into strong guilds to learn the ways of the warrior, which means they are equipped with a fast gryphon to get here. To be honest, I don't see anything special in being a warrior. You just fight for your king. Being a hunter is far more different. You also need to know the ways of nature. As light as a feather, as swift as a Stormwind gryphon, as silent as death."

They walked on the second floor until they arrived before a small room. She looked at it and though it wasn't perfect, she had hoped for nothing better.

"Thank you," she said softly and turned around to face Andri.

"Tomorrow morning Sin, our guild leader, will teach you the basic stuff of the guild. I will be out hunting so I'll be back at lunch. At about noon we shall leave and begin the journey. So just get some sleep," he explained. "Good night then."

"Right… Good night."

Andri closed her door and she was left with Scythe in the dark room with a tiny window. The moon watched as she took her clothes off and slipped into bed. Scythe preferred the wooden floor. The blanket was made of linen cloth which reminded her of home. Soon enough she was asleep in the main house of Knights of Sin.


	5. Training

By noon Andri and Zacklrina had already left Arathi Highlands. Both their bags packed, bows tightened and pets ready for some action. They walked on a rough path in a land with not many trees and the scent of Horde was everywhere. Scythe and Nightshadow had gotten along quite well. Weirdly, even Scythe had understood that Nightshadow was a higher class pet than he was therefore always let him run to the prey first, if Andri hadn't commanded else. The first night they spent by a small river catching fish and gathering nearby herbs.

"The only way to fully master the fishing skill," Andri explained, "is to sit around for hours and find schools of fish. There's no easy way to do this. And sometimes the best fish appear on rainy days which makes it hard to sit around and just silently wait. You're not afraid of the rain, are you?"

"No, sir," Z concentrated on her fishing rod.

"Very good. We won't have to worry about wet clothes then," he chuckled mysteriously.

"I've learnt to respect the rain. It's said when it hasn't rained in Elwynn for 5 days, Deathwing will destroy it. Since the beginning of time we've prayed for rain, when it's been dry for a few days."

"I didn't know that," the night elf confessed. He seemed to be interested in what the young hunter had to say. "So what do you do? For the rain to come."

"I have never been a part of the rain ritual. It's more for warlocks and mages. Poor Ulof. I really hope he's doing well."

Zack suddenly pulled out a small red fish. "Redflesh. Poisonous if not cooked properly. Gives 252 mana but never eat this at night, can cause arcane damage."

"Age?"

"I'd say about 2 months since the rear scales are a little bit too orange for it to be fully mature."

"Correct."

It didn't take too long for the hunters to become friends. Though Zacklrina was a little shy at first, she realized that she too, was a hunter and needed to be respected. The days passed even faster and before Andri could realize, Zack had become a better hunter than any of his students. There was something different about this young girl from Northshire and the elf just couldn't put his finger on it. It didn't take long before they both were known among the Horde and rumors spread like wildfire.

Zacklrina had learned much more in the past 3 months than she had learned in her whole life. The experienced night elf had trouble telling her new things because she was such a fast learner. It wasn't long before she has mastered fishing and knew every detail about every fish in the Eastern Kingdoms and though there was much more to discover, it was enough for now.

It was sunset and they had just reached a dangerous area of blood elves (from the Horde) to gather some high level herbs. Zacklrina found them easily and bent down to get them from the ground. She did it with such skill, without damaging any leaf or root that it had always surprised her mentor.

"Where'd you learn to gather herbs? Your herbalism skill is higher than it's normal for your age."

"I've been living on the farm my whole life," Zacklrina explained. "I may now know much about magic or monsters, but gardening has always been fun for me."

"Did you even know you were going to become a hunter?" He asked.

"Actually it came as a surprise. There were four of us and all of the others had potential."

Andri looked at her with confused eyes. "You _do _have potential."

"The others, they were better in everything. I was just the daughter of two low class humans."

"Zacklrina, who are wars fought for?"

"The Alliance? The King?"

"Do you think the King wants for his people to go to war?"

She didn't know how to answer. Actually she had never even thought of it like that.

"It's the kind of people your parents are, that the war is fought for. Farmers, workers, builders. Citizens without any power or strength to defend themselves."

She dug up another herb and cleaned the roots from dirt.

"You don't fight for the Alliance or the damn King who gets us all killed, you fight for yourself and your family. You fight for the future generation to have a peaceful and better life. For your children and children's children. Do you understand that?"

"But then why do we live and die in the King's name? Why do we give half of our every harvest to the Alliance if not for the King? Why do we fight under the King's banner if we don't even mean it?"

"For the protection, Zack. When the Horde see the King's banner, they want to kill the King, not our families."

"He sacrifices himself for us? For farmers and builders and such?"

"That's the burden our Kings have to carry. This world is at war."

Those were the words which haunted the young hunter for a long time. She'd always seen the King as an arrogant bastard who doesn't fight much and makes his people fight_ for_ him.

It wasn't long before they were called to Stormwind to see the King. Zacklrina had always heard stories but she'd never really seen His Majesty. The letter arrived at the guild's main house and a druid was sent to Northern Strangelthorn to inform the hunters about their unexpected invitation. They were just about finished with killing 12 tigers and bringing back their heads when a bird landed before them. Zack was a little bit surprised a random bird would just land on their dead tiger but soon enough it turned into a female night elf.

"Andri," the night elf bowed before him. "And Zacklrina," she turned to the girl and nodded. "This letter just arrived to headquarters about 8 hours ago. It seems to be from the King."

Zacklrina felt like an outcast when the beautiful tall night elf and Andri exchanged looks. It wasn't jealousy but she had finally thought that she and him were friends but now it seemed like she was just the small human amongst night elves.

Andri was given the letter and he opened it. The women looked at him in suspense, even the night elf, though the letter had nothing to do with her.

"This is it, Zack," Andri smiled and turned to his student. "We're going to see the King."

Zack wasn't even as excited as she was glad, that the letter had nothing to do with the weird night elf druid who had brought it. He gave Zacklrina the white paper scroll while the druid slowly tried to see it for herself.

"Join a battle in Mount Hyjal? That's in Kalimdor, we'll never get there in time."

The druid laughed teasingly. "You haven't shown her the portal yet?" She asked Andri.

He shook his head. "We've been too busy hunting, Alyssa. Would you please tell Commander James back at the camp that we've completed our quest. Here, have the heads," he threw the tiger heads at the druid and Zack tried not to laugh.

Alyssa was a little bit offended but took the heads and flew away.

"Come on, we don't have much time. We need to see the King too," Andri warned.


	6. Mount Hyjal

They arrived before the King a few hours later. The castle guards didn't even move as the 2 wolves and 2 hunters made their way to the throne room. At first there was a long corridor then a large room with the King, his son and the main mage. With a steady pace they walked and kneeled in front of the king.

"My Lord," Andri said.

"Yes, hunters, what can I do for you?"

Both of them were still kneeling when Andri spoke. "We've received this letter. I am Andri, Ambassador of the Knights of Sin. She is Zacklrina, hunter of Knights of Sin."

"Brilliant! Mount Hyjal is in desperate need of some long range shooters. Your apprentice has earned quite a name, Andri. I'm sure you two will make a difference in the little battle over there. Well then, off you go!" the King ordered.

Zacklrina had hoped for a longer chat with the king, maybe meet the Prince because rumor said he was the most beautiful human in the whole world. He didn't look anything special though, just like his father only a little bit younger. He couldn't have been much older than Zack. Before they left the room Zack's little wish became reality.

"Hunters!" the Prince yelled after them.

He ran towards them and moved a little away from the wolves.

"Scythe, stay," Z whispered to her wolf in an angry manner.

"I'm Anduin Llane Wrynn," the Prince introduced himself. "Zacklrina, I wish to give you this."

He gave the girl a pretty necklace with a small claw.

"It's the claw of Deathwing, the only artifact I hold dear. My father gave it to me."

Zacklrina was baffled and honored. "Why give it to me, My Lord? I may not even return from the battle."

"My father told me this is your first time going into real war. I want you to take it so you have a reason to return. Many fighters lose hope when they're dying but now you have this. If you don't return it, I'll be very disappointed. Treasure this."

"And if I do come back and give this back?" Zack asked the handsome Prince.

"You could marry me and claim the necklace. After all, a woman has to prove herself somehow."

"But why me?"

"Do you dare question your Prince?" Anduin shot back at her.

Zacklrina backed off and but she had nowhere to go. The Prince put the necklace on her and returned to stand with his father.

The hunters left the throne room, Scythe angrily growling.

"You seemed to have got a lover," Andri teased as they walked down the steps.

"I swear to Gods I will never marry him," Zack answered grumpily.

"No one could refuse that offer. He'd kill you."

"Not if I don't die before in the battle."

"Nonsense," the night elf disagreed.

They arrived at a purple and green portal on a small island in Stormwind.

"I'll go in first and see if the battle has reached the portal. You come after me, in 5 seconds or so," the night elf commanded.

He jumped in, Nightshadow after him. Zacklrina took a huge breath and a long look at Stormwind. This was it. She was really going into a real battle.

Scythe started howling and Zack returned from her thoughts.

"Right… in we go," she said to strengthen herself and they entered the portal.

On the other side it was a little quieter. The battle hadn't reached the Stormwind portal yet.

"Did you get cold feet?" Andri asked. "That wasn't 5 seconds."

"No I uhh… I don't know," she said when she had gotten over the shock of the portal. It was weird being in two totally different places within 1 second.

They mounted their gryphons and flew more inland. Andri in the front, Zack flying behind.

"Don't be too scared now, I'll always be somewhere near!" Andri shouted through the wind.

"I'm not scared!" Zacklrina lied. "I'm fine, really!" she yelled so the other hunter could hear her.

It wasn't long before they saw the forest burning and heard the ugly roars of orcs. They landed a little bit further away, not to attract any attention.

The forest was burning with such force that smoke took over the sky. The fire was too bright therefore the enemy was hard to be seen. They were all over and the battlefield was huge. Zack had never seen anything like this in her life. Healers were everywhere, desperately trying to heal the wounded but the Horde kept coming inward, destroying more trees and killing more of the Alliance. Screams and shouts and shrieks were everywhere. The wolves could smell the scent of blood but smoke clouded their senses.

"War, just like I remember it," Andri said.

They got their bows out, ran to higher ground and shot the Horde, arrow after arrow after arrow. But more of the monsters appeared from the mountainside and Andri couldn't hold them off.

"Run down, down the cliff!"

Zack did as he said, Scythe behind her. They had now arrived at the same level the battle was and she shot all the random Horde running her way. Scythe held back no more and jumped at enemies, biting their throats and killing them painfully.

The girl wasn't even frightened anymore, she saw and killed. Orc after orc after orc. But this never ended. They kept coming and Andri was nowhere to be seen. The smoke started to fill her lungs and there was a huge roar somewhere. Scythe whined and ran to Zack, pulling her away from the open. At last the girl saw what her wolf was so afraid of. Huge blood elves. And hundreds of them. They kept pouring down from the air, killing the wounded and the healers. The Alliance fighters seemed to be all dead and Zack was all alone in the middle of a battlefield. The smoke hurt her eyes and her ears were filled with loud cries of the Alliance.

She shot and shot 'till her lungs just couldn't breathe anymore and she saw dozens of bloodthirsty blood elves running her way with huge blades. Before the first one arrived, it was shot in the chest. Zack tried to fight them off but the smoke was her biggest enemy. Scythe was grabbed and stabbed but the girl couldn't do anything. There were too many of them. A blonde elf came and shot her with some magic, she could feel life being drained from her. She touched the necklace and thought of Andri's words, about her not dying. But here she was, wounded and her vision blurred, her wolf bleeding beside her. Her body was aching, every little wound hurt. There was nobody around, the blood elves had left her to die alone.

For a few minutes she breathed heavily, praying to all the Gods she could think of, swallowing blood every second, not to suffocate in her own liquids. She heard a new wave of blood elves shouting and soon they would arrive and kill her completely.

Fortunately, it wasn't the end yet. Somewhere from the smoke, a body came running and it posed no threat. It was Andri.

"I'm so sorry, Zack, I lost you back there," Andri came running and tried to move her.

"No, Andri, go!" Zack shouted with what she had left inside her. "You'll kill yourself, just please go, they're coming!"

"Shut up, I'm not going to let you die today," he insisted.

"Don't touch me! Run!" the girl started to cry desperately and pushed the night elf away. She wept and wept but didn't let the night elf near. "I will harm you if you don't go! You deserve to live more than I do," she wailed.

"You made a promise to the Prince and you must keep it!" the night elf shouted at her angrily. "This is not the end for you Zacklrina. Stop this at once!" he tried to pick her up.

It started to rain as Andri carried the wounded girl away from the enemies but they kept coming. There was an orc who got in the way and the night elf had to kill it. He put Zack on the ground, grabbed his bow and shot the orc twice but then had to kill it with a sword because someone kept healing him.

Zack crawled next to a tree and put her back against the black burned bark. She coughed up blood and the mild acid rain soaked her clothes and hair. She could see a light streak in the sky. Lightning. After that the sky roared and rumbled.

Andri came back to see the girl's eyes closed, clothes wet and full of blood and the wolf nowhere to be seen. There was a huge wound in her stomach which had been infected by the rain. He ripped the clothes apart with a knife. It was raining heavily and it had a bitter, smoky taste.

"Damn it, the smoke has poisoned the air," he said to himself as he provided first aid for the girl.

The experienced night elf tried to treat the wound but the girl started to flex in disapproval. The pain shot across her whole body. She had never felt such agony. When Andri tried to pour water on it, the girl wailed in pain.

"Shhh," he put one had on the girl's mouth. "I know it hurts but try to be quiet. The Horde will hear us."

She rose her head in frustration and banged it against the tree bark. "You're wasting your time," she groaned.

He tried hard not to hurt the girl but everything he did just made her scream more. It was hard for him to do something which made her suffer from the pain but he knew that if the wound wasn't treated right away, things would get far worse.

After a while she lost all sense of reality and just let her mentor do what he wanted to do. Her body was numb now and her hot blood slowed down. "Andri…" the girl's eyes opened and she touched his hand. "We pray for the rain… When it hasn't rained for a while…"

"I know this, you told me," Andri concentrated on the wound and tried not to let his feelings show.

"I am not part of the ritual but I do know that..," she coughed up some blood and spit it out. "Even when it's poisoned, the flowers somehow remove the venom."

"Don't speak," he said softly and tried to bandage it.

"Andri, the flowers…" she pointed to nearby herbs. "They remove the poison."

He hadn't listened to her before but now he looked her in the eyes. He got up and pulled the weeds from the ground, returned and tried to clean the wound.

"But Andri, please go…" she said for the last time before the smoke blacked out her vision.


	7. Recovery

Shades of blue and green, purple and yellow, mixed all together. She heard voices, deathly robotic voices which could only belong to a death knight. It was still hard for her to breathe because dust had filled her lungs… but she couldn't smell the smoke anymore. Somehow the pain had decreased but not gone away completely. This surely couldn't have been Heaven or Hell. Instead of screaming and trees burning she heard soft whispers. They seemed to come from all around her. Maybe she was too scared to open her eyes, but finally she did.

The place had a peaceful ambiance, wherever "here" was. She saw herself lying on the bed lifeless as if spellbound. On the other side of the room she saw two people but they were blurred. One was definitely Andri but the other one was darker. Too dark even. A death knight perhaps? Zack blinked her eyes and tried to sit up but the pain came back. She saw her whole torso bandaged up, from her hips to just under her breast. She had gotten more muscularly in the past weeks, but still maintaining a womanly figure. Whoever the healer was, did a damn good job because she couldn't remember anything. The two men noticed how she tried to move and came closer. And this one was a death knight after all.

"Where's Scythe?" was the first thing she said.

"Welcome back," Andri said with huge relief in his voice. "Your wolf was nowhere to be seen when I found you…How are you feeling?"

She couldn't speak anymore. Was Scythe dead?... The human death knight got closer as well which made her remember the time back in Stormwind. He looked creepy, pure evil in fact. The glowing dark blue eyes and huge weapons were definitely not friendly.

"Here, have something to drink," offered the death knight in a strange voice she'd heard before.

He pulled out a leather sack of mana-water but Zack was too afraid to take it.

"No thank you," she managed to speak but her voice was dry and desperate for water. "You followed me. In Stormwind."

Andri looked at the death knight. "Scaring new members, are we now?" he laughed.

Zack was a little confused. Laugh? At a death knight? What kind of sorcery was this?

"I was just making sure she was safe," it answered.

"By stalking me?" Zack asked.

"Would you have remained calm if a death knight approached you in a strange big city?"

True. She would have just run off.

"I'm Sebastian," the death knight introduced himself. "I'm the one who rescued you…" he looked at Andri, "…and my brother from the blood elves."

"B-brother?" the girl was a little shocked. How could a human have a night elf as a brother? What was happening?

"Step brother actually," Andri stepped in. "Anyways, how are you feeling?"

"Like I've died and rose from ashes," she coughed.

The death knight left them alone. Before going out the door he waved at Zack though she couldn't move much. Andri didn't do anything, just watched the girl trying to move.

"In the name of Gods, I've never felt so scared in my entire life!" she confessed right after Sebastian had left.

"Of the death knight or…?"

"Well him too yeah, I thought they're supposed to be evil," Zack told him. "But no, I meant the battle. You could have _died_. _I _could have died."

A healer came in, a female draenei. It looked a lot like Adorica but she couldn't see. The draenei checked something on the table.

"But we didn't. These things happen in war. When you lose hope you have to depend on your comrades."

They had a long eye contact which made Zack feel safer now. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have panicked like that. Everything was out of control and I didn't know what to do."

"That's why I'm here," he comforted Zacklrina. "We have another problem though. You survived this battle but we need to deal with the necklace now. Are you ready to marry him?"

"I don't have to if he thinks I'm dead," she said.

"It's not that easy," he explained. "People talk. I bet he already knows that we were saved by a death knight and now is waiting for your safe return."

"Well what other choices do I have?" she asked desperately. "I don't even have feelings for him!"

"The only way to legally decline his offer is if you were already wed. But I guess that's not an option for you, is it?"

"Marry someone not to get killed by the prince. What an epic bedtime story that would make," she said sarcastically.

The healer came closer and it really was Adorica, the draenei she had met first at the Knights of Sin HQ. "Andri, don't you have somewhere to be? Oh and fetch some water while you're at it, seems like death knight liquids aren't appreciated here," she asked with a strange smile, hinting that she wanted to talk to Zack alone.

Andri left without saying anything, his wolf beside him.

The draenei and human were silently sitting in the infirmary. They could only hear the low humming of healing Adorica was doing. Zack's body was still soar but the healer did everything she could to minimize the pain.

"I saw the way you were looking at him," Adorica broke the silence.

"Looking at whom? The death knight?"

"No, silly. I meant Andri. It's not hard to see that you have feelings for him."

"Well of course, we're friends," Zacklrina tried to hide her blush.

"Look, Zack, we're all _friends_ here. But there's something more about you two, I can feel it," Adorica explained. "It's not forbidden to have feelings. Just because we're soldiers for the King doesn't mean we can't have a personal life."

"I assure you, Adorica, there's nothing between us," the young girl tried to laugh it off.

"And the good thing is, he likes you too!" the healer encouraged.

"But he's _the best_ hunter in all of Azeroth and I'm just starting out. It's not… I cannot…"

"Maybe in war he has a higher position but when it comes to the real life, we're all even. And let me tell you, love doesn't care whether he's the King or a poor blood elf, it just is."

"But it can never happen-"

"No buts!" Adorica laughed.

"It's not that easy. Once we get back to Stormwind, I'm going to have to marry the Prince… and if I don't…"

"Didn't you hear a word Andri said? You gotta marry someone else before you go back to Stormwind. You and I both know what he meant."

"We do?" Zack was puzzled.

""Yes! You have to marry Andri."

"It's just your crazy imagination, Adorica. He's not like that. He fights wars and he's so strong and… He doesn't care if the weather is bad, he still fights like it's the last battle… And he's not scared of _anything. _He's mysterious and funny and smart… He knows all the fish from Azeroth AND Outland…And when he tries to cheer someone up it's like nothing but happiness exists…There's just no way…"

Zack saw how Adorica had stopped healing her and now watched the girl in awe.

"You are _totally_ in love with him!" Adorica cheered. "He does have feelings too. You don't know him long enough but years ago his parents were killed in battle by the Lich King. He hasn't really opened up to anyone since then. However now, when he's with you, he's glowing."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better…"

"No, Zack, I'm telling you the truth," Adorica smiled.


	8. Home

As the girls were chattering Andri came back. They looked and him and gave each other mysterious looks.

"What did I miss?" Andri asked.

"Nothing at all, we were just catching up on the battle you two fought."

Andri looked at Zack and she nodded in agreement. "Yes we uhh… were thinking of how to get myself a new pet since Scythe is probably laying somewhere…"

"He's fine, I'm sure," the hunter interrupted her. "Wolves tend to get lost during wars but they do come back".

The three of them were just looking at each other, not knowing what to do next.

"Can you walk?" Andri asked the injured human.

"I think so," she answered shyly.

"I was thinking that on our way back to Stormwind we could pop by Northshire and visit your family… if you want."

"What? Really? Of course, yes, they would be delighted to see me again," Zack's face lit up. "I could introduce you to my parents and show the village and our mage Hectrix who made me a hunter. Oh and my mom makes the best pumpkin pie, really. … I mean if you want."

"I would be honored," Andri made a little gentleman-ish bow so the girls giggled.

"So when would we leave?"

"If you say you can walk then why not right now?" He came closer and carefully looked at the bandage. "Or maybe I'll let you rest here for a few days. Don't want you to tear your stitches, knowing what a tough girl you are."

Adorica immediately looked at Zack and she looked back at her. The draenei's eyes were clearly saying "HE LIKES YOU" whereas Zacklrina was thinking of "He thinks I'm still a little girl…"

The experienced hunter was a bit confused by the female interactions so he stepped in.

"Shall we get going or…?"

"Yes, I'm sure Zacklrina would looove to leave this horrible infirmary," Adorica smiled. "Up you go!"

She helped her stand up from the bed and gave her a clean shirt and leather jacket to cover herself. She wasn't completely naked, just her bandaged stomach.

Andri and Adorica got Zack ready for the small journey back home and then to Stormwind. The night elf had brought some normal water which she gulped down in seconds. Her thirst was bigger than the fear of Sebastian the weird death knight but she had still refused to drink the liquid he had given her.

In about an hour they were trotting on horses heading for Northshire. Every particle in Zack's body was ready to see her family again. Hug them. Feel them close. In her head she was going over all the details she'd tell her parents. About fighting the Horde and other horrible creatures. The lands she'd been to. It wasn't long until they reached Goldshire, the last place she had seen Tessa. The place was so quiet now. A few bonfires were still crackling but it felt lifeless as ever.

Andri got off his horse and Nightshadow immediately sniffed the air. Something was definitely wrong.

The night elf looked around and crossed his arms. "Seems everyone's at the Darkmoon Faire. Let's see your family now."

It was rather nostalgic when they rode the old way back to Northshire. Zack could feel the excitement filling her body, she wanted to see them now more than ever. And she wasn't even mad at Joe anymore.

As they reached the gates Andri's wolf smelled smoke.

"You all right? Seem a bit nervous," Andri chuckled.

Zaklrina could smell the smoke too and instantly remembered the taste of grilled bear meat, which was a rare meal down here. The nearest bears were in Dun Morogh, miles and miles away from here.

Out of a bush a man came running. A guard. "No trespassing for strangers. This place is off limits!" he ordered.

Zack looked at him , confused.

"I lived here. My family is here."

Andri could sense something wasn't right. The guard continued to convince the girl to go away.

"Zack.." Andri whispered. "Zack!"

The girl raised her head and saw what Andri had seen. The whole village was gray. Houses burned to the ground. Homeless people crying and sleeping, ash everywhere.

Her heart stopped. "No…"

The girl unmounted her horse and ran to where her house had been only to find burnt down pieces of wood. "No! This can't be!"

She fell onto her knees and began to dig in the wood and ash. Her hands were dirty and hurt because she had constantly touched nails sticking out. Andri reached her and took her from the ground.

"No! No don't touch me!" she wriggled off and desperately looked around, hands bleeding. The surviving villagers looked at her. She couldn't recognize anyone. Everyone judged her and whispered something.

"Where is my family?! Who did this, I need to know!" she cried out to them.

Andri took ahold of her shoulders. "We should leave, Zack…"

She breathed heavily and tried to reach for her bow but failed when she saw the familiar face of Joe.

"Welcome back Zacklrina," he coughed, his face sad and depressive.

Zack ran to him and pushed him against a remaining house's wall. Her arm was at his throat. Joe hadn't expected her to be this strong. He saw the hate and fury burning in her eyes.

"Stop…" he was choking.

Andri stopped her and pulled her away. Joe coughed and tried to remain as far away from Zack as possible.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Where are my parents?" she cried.

Joe hesitated and pointed at a pile of corpses in a corner of the village. "We found corpses in the houses… the healers couldn't do anything…"

Zack didn't say anything, just looked Joe straight in the eyes. She was one step away from tearing his eyes out and feeding them to the wolves.

"They were dragons of Deathwing. We don't know where they came from and it all happened so fast," he explained, hair messy and dirty.

Nightshadow howled and dragged out a small dead body from the burnt down house. Zack looked at it but the feelings in her were too big to hide. She left Joe with Andri and almost fell down on the body. It was definitely Bella, her 5-year-old sister. She saw the remaining bones and skin. Bugs crawled everywhere. She was disgusted as well as angry and sad.

"It's your fault!" she screamed from her the top of lungs, stood up and took her bow. "It was your duty to protect the villagers, you worthless piece of dump!"

Andri stepped in front of Joe, just to protect the poor boy in case anything happened. "Put the bow down, Zack. It is NOT his fault. There was nothing he could do."

Zack wasn't prepared to lower her bow. She tightened the grip and aimed straight at Andri's heart.

"Get out of my way, please," she begged angrily, tears making a pool at her feet. "This has nothing to do with you, Andri. I will kill you don't step away."

Nightshadow was ordered to stay and so he did. Andri looked the girl in the eyes. In his life he had never seen such rage from a young girl. Deep down he knew Zack would kill, or try to harm him, if she could. But right now Joe needed protection from the strong hunter and Andri was prepared to do anything.

"Zack, listen to me," Andri tried to calm her down. His bright eyes were stuck on the girl, quietly looking at everything she did.

"Step out of the way, Andri, I will kill you if I have to."

She pulled the arrow a little further away, ready to kill anybody who wanted to stop her.

Andri, on the other hand, risked with his life and raised his hand and took a small step forward. "Zacklrina, listen to me. If you kill me then you kill the last living being in this world who knows who you really are."

Zack stiffened.

"Your family is in the afterlife now and if you do wish my death so bad, you would have killed me already. Life is not easy. There's pain and suffering… But sometimes there's good too."

Her hands weakened.

"We survived the battle in Mount Hiyal because we were destined to be more of use to this world."

Joe looked at Andri in awe as Zack's rage calmed. The human looked so tiny next to the tall, muscled and mysterious night elf.

"With all the power I hold within me, I beg you, Zacklrina, please lower your bow."

Maybe Andri had cast a spell on Zack but the girl willingly lowered her weapon.

"Thanks," Joe whispered to Andri.

"Get out of here before I kill you myself," Andri threatened.

Joe stumbled but ran off while Andri hided his feelings for the girl and tied up her dirty and bloody arms. She was helplessly sobbing on the ground, remembering Bella's carcass.


	9. Aftermath

The rain was bucketing down. Small drops of water managed to crawl through the huge leaves of an old oak and dripped on Andri. The warmth of his embrace was the only thing keeping Zacklrina alive at this moment. The girl hadn't said a word since the incident, only tears on her face were a sign to Andri that she was still alive. She was sitting between his legs, back turned on him as Andri's hands lightly held her against him.

The night elf was a rather experienced hunter but when it came to helping someone get over a trauma, he didn't know what to do at all. Every second seeing her like that hurt him because there was nothing he could do. The death of relatives or friends was the one problem nobody had managed to avoid.

"I don't think we're going back to Stormwind," Andri suddenly said. "Not after now. Our best choice is to return to HQ and continue training in Arathi Highlands."

Zack didn't move as if she hadn't heard anything.

In minutes the rain stopped and a bright huge moon lit up the forest. They could see fireflies and Nightshadow was constantly distracted by the distant howls of dire wolves.

"Remember when I taught you how to hold your bow," he reminded, trying to converse with her. "You always messed up the positions of hands and legs… And when I told you it's gonna come easier afterwards you didn't believe me at all."

He smiled but there was no way she could see it. Her red eyes were still looking at the ground but deep inside she wanted to smile because she did remember it very well. And Andri had been right. She didn't even think about the positioning now, it came so naturally.

Or if she thought about being in his arms to keep warm, it all felt right though her heart was still crying and shattered to a million pieces. Something was still keeping her going but she didn't know what it was yet.

"But when I look at you now I feel like you've overcome me, Zack. You really do have the soul of a hunter in you… I'm so proud of you."

No she wasn't, Zack thought. She was never going to become as good.

The next morning Andri loosened the rope around Zack's wrists because her hands were cold, blue and numb. He didn't want the girl to suffer like this but he had to take precautions in case she wanted to shoot something… or someone.

Andri had been granted a vial of the sands with which he could turn into a dragon. Zack stood silently behind the tall night elf as he drank the potion and instantly turned into a brownish dragon. Zack, with her hands tied, was sitting on the dragon's back.

"If we fly for 2 full days we'll arrive at headquarters pretty soon," Andri said with a rough dragony voice.

Zack quietly sat on the dragon's back as they took off. The wind dried her face and she watched the sun rise behind the morning mist.

They had been soaring through the sky for hours now but neither of them said anything. Zacklrina was constantly tired because sleeping at night was almost impossible.

When they were flying above the sea Zack suddenly woke up. All her feelings had gone. She looked down below at the blue water and an idea popped into her mind. It was now or never. She had nobody to live for. All the rage had turned into depression. She had secretly been tightening the ropes around her hands to hurt herself because she had no reason at all to continue living.

She made sure Andri was focused on the flight path. She took a huge breath and looked down again. This is what I want, she thought to herself. And jumped.

Since her hands were tied she had no chance of escaping if she were to drown. She closed her eyes as the wind blew on her face, let out her hands and enjoyed the free-falling. She tried to think of something… to regret something but she didn't care about anything. There was a weird feeling in her stomach, the feeling of falling.

Down and…

Down and…

She opened her eyes, the water was only a few meters away from her now.

She regretted nothing.

And then all of a sudden she felt a big tight grasp around her body and she was swooped up into the air again. The dragon had caught her with its claws. She couldn't hear anything Andri was shouting because the wind was too strong. They landed and the dragon threw her in the grass.

Andri transformed back into himself and Zack could see he was angry. Dead angry. He walked towards the weak girl and grabbed her by the arms.

"What the hell is wrong with you, woman?" He shot at Zack and shook her.

She was now standing on her own 2 feet but didn't say a word. Her eyes were studying Andri's expression but her face showed nothing at all.

"Are you crazy? You could have died!"

She looked down. Andri sighed in frustration and put his hair back, sweeping his forehead with his hands. "Death will come one way or another. But you still have a whole lifetime to live, Zack."

Andri was so mad at Zack she wished she really was dead. Slowly she turned her back and walked in an another direction.

"You still have a reason to live!" he shouted after her.

"No I don't!" she turned her head and stopped so Andri could see the huge tears and red eyes she had.

They stood in silence, both of them gasping for air.

"My wolf is dead, Andri. My parents… my siblings…"

The night elf had nothing to say.

"They're all _dead_! And there was nothing I could do to save them!" Zack cried.

The wind got stronger as if the girl could control the weather with her mind.

"I hate… everything."

Andri shook his head and took slow steps towards her until he was inches from her body.

"There _is _some good left in this world," he said softly and came so close to the girl she had nowhere to go.

For a second he hesitated but then slowly planted a kiss on the girl's soft lips. Zacklrina couldn't move. Was this for real? Neither of them moved away which confused both parties. The moment she had felt the night elf's lips, life poured back into her. All the feelings she had owned once before. Her heartbeat fastened and stomach turned.

Since Zack hadn't moved, Andri's senses were clouded with hormones and he went for another round. This time he held her head and deeply kissed her which made the girl respond the same way. She had never done this before but she didn't doubt herself for a second. If this was fate then she liked it. She felt the night elf's unshaved cheek on her skin which gave her goosbumps. Andri responded by thinking she was cold and pulled her closer. When they both were out of air Andri let her go and took a breath.

He laughed. From the depths of his heart. Zack was as if stunned. What in the world was the night elf thinking, kissing a lame human hunter.

"What was that for?" she asked like an innocent girl, biting her kissed lip.

"For being alive," he answered.


	10. All Good Things Come to an End

*chapter in Andri's POV*

This hunger he craved for the young human was unexplainable. Whatever it was, must have been magic because a hunter like him could not easily get feelings so strong for someone like her. That night something in him said that Zacklrina was much more than a pet and for that night only… he decided to ease the pain in himself. After weeks of seeing the girl but not being able to touch her with care, was pure hell. True, there were times when she needed medical help but the healing sessions never lasted long enough.

He couldn't put into words what he felt that night. To his surprise the girl willingly gave herself to him. The only thing he regretted was not knowing, whether it was her first time.

It was a night of pure… magical romance. No words and no thinking, everything he felt was meant to be.

He didn't know if there would be any consequences or… maybe he didn't _want_ to know. Because what this human did to his mind was more than love. It was addiction. Every touch, every single breath was unimaginable. So if magic really did exist _this_ was it. _This_ was the real magic under the moonlight on the coast of Wetlands.

However, all good things must come to an end.

He woke up hearing a dwarf's voice. Hungover over sure. He wasn't sure if he thought that about himself or the dwarf because as he sat up, half naked, he didn't seem to see the girl.

"Oi, you there!" the dwarf called to him. Yes, hungover.

Andri raised his head and replied with a silent _Hmm?_ As he covered his groin with a piece of clothing next to him.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Excuse me-?"

Yes, these two knew each other. It was a miracle when someone _didn't_ know who the hunter was.

"Your girl.."

"_My _girl?"

"Yea your hunter chick."

"What about her? Is she alright?"

The dwarf made a sarcastic laughter. "Is _she_ alright.."

The night elf didn't seem to understand anything but something was wrong. Nightshadow was gone but his hunter nose smelled smoke. Again.

"No.." he thought to himself. "By the name of all the Gods…"

"Your _girl _showed up before sunrise," the dwarf pointed to his village and hesitated.

"She's gone isn't she?"

"_GONE_? My village is burnt down, children are homeless and parents are missing! And you care about the girl!"

So not hungover anymore.

"Dammit," he mumbled and stood up, not caring about the dwarf. The midget's red eyes were confused as Andri got dressed in front of him.

"It's too late now."

"Oh shut your mouth for once!" Andri got angry.

The dwarf backed off. Andri found his belt and put it on. "Which way'd she go?"

"Andri, Sir…"

"There is no time for politeness now," he scolded.

"She's gone!"

He didn't respond. Instead he looked around and found the boots a bit further away. His lips formed a small smile. He remembered how last night the girl had trouble taking them off so he helped her with the laces. Zack blushed but he had told her she had soft hands.

His smile faded.

The dwarf sat down and found a small bottle of booze from a sack. "You going after her?"

"I have to."

"Where do you think… she's headed?"

"Murdered family, torched house, no feelings… "

The dwarf listened. Carefully.

"There's only one place she _can_ go," Andri took his bow from the ground. "The Lich King."


	11. The Plan

*chapter in Andri's POV*

It wasn't long before Andri realized there was nothing he could do. He had to accept the fact that she had gone for good. There was always the choice of going to the Lich King which would have taken months because he was a hard person to find.

Disappointed, he went back to the guild's HQ.

For months and months people kept talking about his loss and about the young hunter apprentice probably being dead somewhere. And though Andri knew it wasn't true because he had seen her true strength, he didn't say a word. He was rarely seen around, mostly hunting around, gathering tracks and questioning random villagers all around Azeroth. Even when someone did see him in HQ, he looked too evil to approach.

Sin, Adorica and Sebastian sat at the long wooden table at HQ, thinking and planning on the next raid.

The women were planning stuff but Sebastian was quiet. He had been thinking too much lately and Adorica seemed to understand what he was so worried about.

"Sebastian," Adorica tried to get his attention. "You're not the only one thinking about… the hunter case."

He kept his head straight, looking at the wall with his shining blue eyes. "I may have a plan…"

Sin looked up. Adorica stayed quiet.

"According to the intelligence Andri's gathered, the hunter is definitely located where the Lich King is. Rumor says they've been working… together."

Everyone gasped.

A dark shadow came in from the door but no one noticed. "It's been 10 months," a low voice said.

"You're back!" Adorica cheered like a happy little goat girl.

"Not for long."

Sebastian stood up from his chair. "Brother."

Andri nodded.

"We've got a plan."

"I'm all ears."

The tension was rising. Sentences remained short because everyone was scared of Andri running off again looking for a dead trail.

"Well, brother, as you know…"

Andri looked angry.

"I'm a death knight."

Adorica's mind was screaming YOU DON'T SAY?! As Sebastian tried to be delicate.

"I could go to the Lich King. He probably won't remember how I became a death knight and our…"

Andri's face had no expression.

Adorica was a little bit stunned. "Sebastian, you can't!"

They looked at each other.

"Adorica, I must! If Andri is dead set on bringing the girl back then I'm the only one who can do it."

"I will need to go with you, brother," Andri spoke.

"Don't even think about that. You would put the mission in jeopardy."

"Sebastian…" Andri started. "She _knows_ me. I know _her_. Getting to her is not the problem, bringing her _back_ is. She is strong enough to kill anyone on her path. I thought… I really thought I changed her but I fear the Lich King's wrath has gotten into her bones."

Sin interfered now. "Sebastian, you will take Andri with you. But please… Don't get yourselves killed."

She didn't even have to say anything else because the two brothers were out of the house quicker than lightning, Nightshadow by Andri's side. Adorica's face saddened as she stroked her own hair.

"He'll be alright. I promise," Sin comforted her.

"It's not Sebastian I'm worried about."

Sin smiled a little. "This is nothing I haven't seen before, Adorica."

"Sin, really. I'm worried about Andri. Remember I told you that before they left for her home village, I had a little talk with her about Andri. And then it was clear to me that they had feelings for each other. Now… I don't know if anything happened between them before she ran away… But I'm afraid when Andri realizes she is not the small fragile girl anymore, his heart will be broken. If the Lich King really has taken her into his armada, he has yet again taken away everything from him."

"They really had something, didn't they?"

"Well Andri wouldn't be so obsessed about bringing her back," Adorica stated.

"Do you think they…" Sin had a mysterious smile.

Both of them laughed a little.

"I don't know," Adorica answered. "I don't think so."

After a few days Sebastian and Andri had reached Eastern Plaguelands, where by rumor, the girl was. Sebastian had taken Andri as a prisoner by binding him in a magical trap. They were approaching the castle high up in the air. Luckily no _real _death knights or scourge had seen threat in them and just let them pass. Andri had cast a black magic spell on them so that they could communicate by thoughts. The path was rough and dry under their expensive boots.

They had arrived in front of a mouth of a cave which lead to the place upon where the castle floated. The brothers went swiftly and silently through the cave.

Even on the other side no one seemed to notice them. Everything was going according to plan.

They walked on another road, Andri carefully looking down to look sad and without hope. Sebastian was confident because he had been here before and this was nothing to worry about. He just needed to make his brother happy. They now arrived before a gryphon trainer, or well they were just corpses of gryphons.

"Get on with it," the rider croaked, his voice dry as Uldum

Sebastian pulled the chains Andri was tangled in and threw him on the undead beast.

The monster took off as Sebastian tightly held his brother.

_Is this really going to work, brother?_

_I know Zacklrina. She must have a reason to return to the land of the living._

_What if she's one of… One of the death knights?_

_Sebastian, you came back to the living. And so will she._

The beast landed and they were aboard the castle. It was now or never. A couple of dead things passed and looked at them but posed no threat.

"This night elf was caught eavesdropping in Northrend," Sebastian told the dead things and pulled Andri's chain so he fell to his knees.

The things nodded.

Sebastian found the teleporter, just where it had been before.

_Nothing's changed here._

_Are you sure she's up there? Shouldn't you ask someone first?_

_If the rumors are true then she has her own quarters where she spends most of her time. This is it, brother. If you want to bail, we need to do it now._

_Let's get this over with._

They were instantly teleported to the next level of the castle. Where the Lich King was.


	12. The Mission

*Andri's POV*

Maybe it was a mistake coming here because Andri felt scared and angry, after so many years, he felt his hate towards the Lich King rise. What if… what if this was not going to work. His wolf couldn't come because it would have sabotaged the mission. He was dragged up the stairs. It all smelled of death and hate and… lost hopes. There was no happiness here. It was dark and damp. And now he saw the Lich King. The one and only bastard who Andri wanted to kill more than anything. But before his consciousness tried to do anything, his heart skipped a beat. Because there next to the motherless monster was the girl of his dreams. It really was her.

Andri's and Sebastian's thought were all mixed up.

_She's here, Andri_

_It can't be_

_Look how she's changed_

_By the God's…_

_This is not going to work_

_Shut up_

_Abort mission_

_I will kill you if you do anything_

_She will give us up_

_Wait_

_We'll die_

_Just shut up!_

"My Lord," Sebastian spoke and kneeled before the Lich King.

Andri's chest was about to break of all the nervousness, anger, guilt and… love.

Zacklrina stood there, straight and proud as a woman, hair long and black, body covered with dark and powerful Lich King armor and carrying a thin black bow. For a moment Andri felt relief, at least she was still a hunter. But the happiness didn't last.

The hunters looked each other in the eyes and Andri just wished to know what the girl was thinking.

Zack turned to the evil monster and they whispered something. The Lich King looked at Sebastian… and then Andri and… laughed. An evil laugh.

"Welcome back, Sebastian the Traitor!"

A stone was lifted from the brothers. By some magic Zack hadn't told the Lich the truth. Yet Andri was confused. He was supposed to be dead by now.

"My Lord, I had no choice but to work undercover. I won't be staying for long, not if you, My Lord, have anything else to say. This filthy elf was found snooping around. What shall I do with him, My Lord?"

Zacklrina had remained still but took a step forward towards the brothers. "Traitors must be punished," she said, her voice like death.

The Lich King nodded and commanded Sebastian to follow his little "eye candy". Zacklrina took the chains and dragged the night elf to a candle lit chamber, on another floor. They both looked at each other in surprise.

"Stay here," her angry deathly voice told Sebastian.

Sebastian did as told though he was as confused as Andri. He stayed outside the chamber door, concentrating on Andri's thoughts just in case anything went wrong.

_Andri, please tell me she's not a death knight._

_She's not. But the voice… I don't seem to understand._

_Why didn't she tell the Lich King she knew us? Maybe her memory has been erased._

_No, that's not it. When she looked at me… She knows who I am._

_So you think she's still fighting for the Alliance?_

_I don't think so. After all, she went through a lot in such a short period. The breakdown was big…Oh wait… I think…_

_What's she doing?_

_She chained me to a chair._

_I feel tension in you, brother. Are you… you love her that much? Even after what she's become?_

_Oh, shut it._

Zacklrina moved away from Andri's chair, into the darkness of the chamber. Before Andri could speak the girl's eyes left him speechless.

"I almost lost hope," Andri spoke, the chains hurting him.

She didn't say anything.

"Please, come back."

Silence.

"Well you must have brought me here for something. You could have easily told the Lich King the truth."

She stayed in the same position. Just watching.

"I know you-"

"You don't know me!" She screamed the scariest scream he'd ever heard.

A shiver ran down his spine. Her voice was so… cold and dead.

_Andri, what the hell is going on?_

_She's… she has like… died._

"When you ran away… I was so scared, Zack. And deep inside I know you had feelings too. It wasn't just to escape from me. You _wanted _me. You _craved_ me," Andri said with a low and very, very attractive voice but still keeping the seriousness.

"I feel _nothing._"

"But you did back then."

None of them spoke.

"What are you doing here, Andri?" Zack asked. Her rage had calmed but voice was still cold as death.

"I came to save you."

"There's nothing left to save."

_Are you guys… _

_Oh for God's sake Sebastian she's 20 feet from me._

"…That night at Wetlands…"

She didn't respond.

"Come back. Zacklrina, please come back."

"I can't," she answered and put out the candle.

"10 months I've been tracking you down. I'm not about to give up."

He heard her soft steps coming towards him. It was pitch dark and he couldn't see anything. His hunter nose picked up her scent and though it had changed a little, he felt it getting stronger.

_She just put out the only light we had._

_Okay, brother, when things get bad you just tell me._

_I don't think she will hurt me._

_What do you mean?_

_She has something she wants to tell me but it's hard to understand._

_Alright._

Her legs touched his knees. She was so close to him, he could feel it but he was too tightly chained. Her soft scent caught his nose and he could hear her breathing. Maybe it was the darkness which messed with Andri's senses but he felt the girl sitting on him, facing him. Her rough gear weighing down on him. Zacklrina put her hands around his shoulders and before Andri felt the hug, he felt sadness. It wasn't his though, it was hers. A tear raced down Zack's cheek and Andri felt it on the side of his face.

"I wish I could hug you back," the night elf whispered.

She stayed quiet but kept embracing him.

At that moment Andri felt happy. For the first time in 10 months he felt happy. The girl, or well, woman now, was sitting on him and hugging him. Her scent was everywhere and it had turned into a sweet drug a long time ago.

"Don't cry."

"I'm not crying," she wept.

Andri had felt this before. His armor getting wet because of the girl. And it made him even happier.


	13. Get Her Back

*Andri's POV*

They had sat there in the silence for a few minutes now. Sebastian's thoughts were blank and neither did Andri think of anything to tell him. At last the girl moved a little and loosened the embrace around him.

"I was pretty sure I'd never see you again," Andri admitted.

It was still dark so he couldn't see where Zacklrina's eyes were.

"This world is so damned and full of evil. I never knew anything… like _this_ existed."

"Andri… You have to let me go," her words were stern but sad.

"Why can't you come back with me?"

"It's complicated."

"I'll try to understand."

_What's taking you so long?_

_Shut up, she's about to say something_

She came closer, her gear grinding his. She put her mouth next to his ear and whispered: "Because... I'm bound to The Lich King with a child."

"He.. Raped you?" they were inches from each other's face, he could feel it.

"Oh, Andri, I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore," she got off him.

He didn't know how but her voice seemed to become her own again. The deathly metallic thing had slowly gone.

"Loosen the chains so I could at least touch you."

The girl remained… a little scared.

"I do anything, you scream and I'm dead. I wouldn't risk that."

She gathered her confidence and broke the chain spell. The hard metallic rings landed on the floor making an uncomfortable sound as they disappeared. Andri stood up, feeling how the blood in his veins stared moving again. Slowly, not to make any swift movements he stepped towards Zacklrina. His hand searched in the darkness until it found hers. It was so cold. He felt her shiver. The young hunter didn't flinch when he embraced her. Andri could finally, after all these long moons, touch her again. Feel that she was alive.

And before he knew it, his lips had found hers. It was a long and familiar sensation. He couldn't resist anymore and let his body have its way. Without any control he slowly pushed her against the wall and kissed her like it was the end of days. And even if the night elf wanted to stop, the hunger was like a wild beast. His hand touched every inch, every curve she had which made him want more. He felt how his blood started rushing but luckily nothing could have been seen from under the armor. The girl made soft moans as he was pressed and grinded against the chamber's wall.

"I'm supposed to kill you," she said with guilt as she broke the kiss.

"Then why haven't you?"

"Because… I _can't_."

He stroked her cheek. "I knew you still loved me."

"I _don't_ have feelings, Andri."

_Excuse me, Andri, but there are some curious scourge out and about, I do think you should hurry._

_Understood._

"Someone's coming," Andri warned. "So what happens now?"

"I will take you to the executing stage, down in Eastern Plaugelands. I'll let you and Sebastian return home."

"What about you?"

"I cannot leave this place, Andri. I am spellbound. I took the oath of the death knight."

"So that's why you're voice was… different."

"Yes, and if I don't continue being all scourge-like, someone will notice me being human again."

"But your voice is still very… you know, normal."

Zack punched him in the stomach which really hurt the night elf.

"Shut up when you're not spoken to," her deathly voice returned.

And just in time as well. The chamber door was open by a couple of death knights, Sebastian one of them.

"I will finish this one down at Plaguelands," her voice cold as death.

The death knight nodded and stepped out of the way as Sebastian put another pair of chains on Andri.

"Meet me outside the cave, on the other side, knight Sebastian," she ordered the death knight.

They did as she commanded. In a few minutes they were outside of the hideous castle, waiting for the girl just next to the mouth of the cave.

"Do you think she'll show up?"

"She will, just give it a little time," Andri said with frustration.

"What did you guys talk about?"

"There wasn't much talking."

They heard whooshes of a dead gryphon in the air. She landed and had a bunch of brown linen cloth in her hand.

"So…not afraid of death knights anymore?" Sebastian asked.

She looked at him with hatred. The human part had gone for the moment. She handed the bunch of cloth to Andri. "Careful…"

To his surprise, it wasn't just cloth. It was heavy, warm and there was something wrapped inside. Andri looked at Zack.

"Take good care of her. I cannot leave her in the hands of the Lich King," her voice calmed and turned human.

Sebastian was baffled. "Is that… "

"What's her name?" Andri asked, softly holding it.

"I've been calling her Lyra."

Lyra's face was angelic, a really soft light blue tone with pinkish cheeks. She was asleep.

"If maybe… Adorica could take over the mothering part… I would be…"

"Don't worry," Andri said. "She's in good hands."

Sebastian was more than confused. "So whose baby is this?"

"The Lich King will know she's missing very soon. But I will deal with it," Zacklrina explained.

"What's your purpose here? You came seeking revenge and now you're imprisoned." Andri asked, his soft eyes looking at the girl with sadness.

"It's true, I did come here seeking revenge. And I've learned much from the Lich King. But all that will help me destroy him. Once that's done, I'm free as well."

Sebastian decided his presence wasn't appreciated. "_Everyone_ wants to be a hero…" he muttered.

"Andri…thank you," she mounted the gryphon and flew back to the horrible flying castle in the air.


	14. Tessa

*Tessa's POV*

Life as a rogue was nothing she had expected it to be. After all the fun and games at local inns and bars she finally set out to find her perfect guild. Her journeys had been long and tiresome but she had become one of a kind. Nobody had ever seen a curly red haired young girl with an attitude like her around Azeroth before.

Anyhow, it was somewhere in Western Plaguelands, where Tessa was with her "rouging". She had been taking all the low money quests because somehow all her gold was spent in bars. This was a beautiful region, a little like Elwynn forest. Wolves, spiders and bears lurked this evergreen place. Tessa had survived on bear meat for weeks now and she was longing for a good pick pocketing victim. And she thought she had found the perfect people.

Sebastian the death knight, Andri the night elf and Lyra the wrapped up infant were walking the shady roads of Western Plaguelands. The baby girl was nicely attached to Andri's back via the linen cloth so he wouldn't have to hold her all the way back to HQ.

"I really don't see why we'd have to keep her alive," Sebastian was persistent on ditching the baby.

"She's just a baby. She's harmless."

"Still one of the Lich. Andri, don't you see? Zacklrina _wants_ you to think this _thing_ is on our side. It won't be a baby forever. When it starts to become a death knight, what lie would we tell her? That _I'm _the father?"

"It would be better than killing an innocent child!" Andri shot back at him and stopped walking.

"Brother, be smart about this. Your love for the girl has clouded your mind."

The brothers stood in silence.

"Whoever you are, you better come out before we use force," Andri's clear and low voice echoed through the trees.

Tessa's cover was blown. But how? Who were these 2 weird men? She did come out of hiding though. Red hair tied into a braid, hanging from behind.

"Do you have any business with us?" Sebastian asked her.

"I am a lil' outta gold, yeah," she shot back hoping for a couple of coins.

"We don't deal with runaways," Sebastian continued.

"Who ya callin' a runaway, cunt? I'm Tessa Highburg born an' raised in Northshire."

What? Sebastian didn't make the connection as easily.

"Tessa, Tessa of Northshire?" Andri asked, a little bit surprised.

"Eighteen years I practiced sword fightin' 'der," she answered proudly, coming out of the shadows onto the road.

"Then surely you know Zacklrina."

"Zack, ma girl? She alive? Doin' well now, is she? I knew that chick would get it goin'!" she cheered and put her knives back into the pockets.

Sebastian turned to Andri and signaled that they really should get going.

"Well Zack's not doing so well, working for the Lich. But we really got to get going. Are you headed that way?"

"Sure, I can join ya, lads," she joined the group.

"I'm Andri, he's Sebastian. From Knights of Sin," he introduced.

"I see, mates o' Zack I 'spose. I myself like to work on ma own. No messin' around in a guild."

"Rogues are like that," Sebastian coughed with a sense of disrespect towards that class.

"So what's tha deal with tha baby?" she asked.

The brothers walked in silence. Tessa went behind Andri and inspected the baby.

"It's Zack's," Andri finally answered.

"Holy crap! Ya must have been one lucky nelf," she winked and returned to Andri's side.

Andri cleared his throat. "Nelf? Oh and she's not mine."

"A night elf. Ya never really 'eard of it? Guess it's more o' a low class thing."

"I meant no disrespect," he apologized.

Sebastian sighed in frustration.

"Well the baby sure looks a hell lot like ya," she said.

Andri didn't respond in any way.

"We've had a long day, Tessa. And we'd rather not talk about it," Sebastian explained.

"What a grumpy bunch ya mates are."

"Tessa, look…"

"Ya don' hafta explain. I get it. She left ya and now ya're all broken hearted and shit."

Andri's thoughts were all messed up. What if Tessa was right?

"I am not the baby's father. Could we _please_ drop it now?" Andri asked, a little frustrated.

The rest of the journey was quiet and long.


	15. Knights of Sin

"So, Tessa, this is our guild," Andri showed their new companion the building.

"Preeeeee nice, could use a few more lights, it's kinda dark in 'er."

Sin and Adorica appeared from another room, a little surprised by the guest. "Welcome to the guild. I'm Sin and this is Adorica," she introduced. "Andri, Sebastian? How'd it go… And what is that _thing_ on your back?"

"It's a baby, ma'am," Tessa said as if it were hers.

They gathered around a table and the men talked about their journey and the mysterious baby. After the talk the females were left to care for the baby. They put her in a small room which now had to become a nursery.

As the leader of the guild, Sin took responsibility. She softly rocked the baby back and forth as she fell asleep.

"Is it just me or does this baby have night elf facial features?" Adorica confessed.

Tessa and Sin didn't say anything.

"Oh, come on! I'm just saying what everyone's thinking."

Sin sighed. "Well since the Lich King is a death knight, an undead human and we have no idea what his true complexion is… What I mean is that we can't rule out the fact this baby might be a trick."

Adorica scoffed. "Sebastian's a death knight. We all know what _he _looks like."

"Well what are you proposing then?" Sin got uneasy.

"She is a living, breathing baby, Sin! Can't you feel that? There is _no_ evil in this room. If she were a descendant of The Dark One, then excuse me for being so straightforward, but Sebastian would have felt it!"

Sin gave up and looked at the sleeping baby.

"Sin… We've all seen human babies. I'm a healer for God's sake, I've even helped some humans with their delivery… But she _is not_ human. Not fully."

"Yes, I understood all that. But who _is_ the father then? And why would she give this baby away and lie about it?"

Tessa stood up. "Cause she's hidin' something. Trust me, I've known her since I was as small as this one baby 'ere. Ya might think that all 'umans are weak and truthful o' somethin' but heck, Arthas was 'uman too."

They all sat in silence and thought long about what the upcoming events mind bring.

"So how do we prove it's Andri's?" Sin asked.

Tessa and Adorica were surprised. "We thought that wasn't a possibility," Adorica murmured.

Sin exhaled softly. "You're right, Adorica, about one thing. You said there was something between them and I'm not foolish to deny there was chemistry. I didn't know it would go that far. This child has a night elf's complexion and her eyes are those of Andri's. The only thing I _don't_ understand is, is why didn't she tell him."

"For protection," Tessa offered. "Lyra would be Andri's weakness if word got out he's the father."

"YES!" Adoirca agreed. "I told Zack about Andri's past and she knows he can't afford to lose anybody else! This is all starting to make sense now."

Sin had a little smile on her face. "The offspring of two great hunters…"

Adorica and Tessa seemed to get along really well, whereas Sebastian would have done anything to get rid of her.

"Ladies, we still have one more problem. If Andri really thinks the baby is not his, then how and when do we tell him… or _do_ we tell him at all?"

Tessa sat down like she was drained from energy.

Adorica therefore stood up and started to leave the room. "Oh, I don't know. It would take years to train this child for her to protect herself. Maybe we should just give it to some couple in a peaceful village far from war and let her grow up there. And when she becomes of age, she could join our guild and be told the truth about her real parents-"

Before Adorica could finish, Andri came in. "I don't think it's such a good idea to tell an 18-year-old young lady her father is the Lich King."

The women couldn't say anything.

Sin put the baby on the bed she was sitting on and explained Andri that 18 years is a long time and maybe the Lich wouldn't exist anymore.

That night at the HQ of Knights of Sin nobody slept except for the baby. And it wasn't only Arathi Highlands that had a hard time resting. Far, far away somewhere in the depths of Elwynn Forest a group of well-trained bandits were gathering, making camp and sharpening their blades. Their leader, a full grown warrior was eating dried meat and had a cup of ale in his other hand. The bonfire grew bigger and bigger as men brought more wood.

At the edge of their camp was a beaten up younger man with a worn coat and dirty hair. His legs were chained and bruised.

"Mage! You have one more chance to create me this paralyzing potion," the leader came to him.

He didn't move.

"Oh dear… Seems you're of no use to me any more."

The mage continued to protest in silence.

The leader rose his sharp blade high and hit with force. Thump! Cling! The chains were borken and the mage disappeared into the shadows.

"You can run but you cannot hide… Mage Ulof of Elwynn," the leader snickered.


	16. Icecrown

Zacklrina, standing next to the Lich King with her powerful armour, tried to keep a strong face. She had only to hope that Andri could take care of her child. However, as far as the Lich was concerned, there was a traitor amongst his band of scourge. Last week had been the biggest massacre the Lich had had in his own castle. He had killed dozens of his own men including new death knights, not even capable of stealing a baby. Somehow the Lich didn't even want to consider the possibility that his own little toy might have been the mastermind behind this tragic event. Yet the King showed no emotions, only rage.

It was a cold and a dark night, the icy wind blew through the chest pieces of the warriors. The Lich, Zacklrina and his monsters, whom he dare called proud warriors, stood as motionlessly on a platform in Icecrown, Northrend. It was the perfect night for him to go forward with his deal. Since Zacklrina was the only alive human amongst them, she felt the cold crawl into her bones and numb her fingers. The metal armour absorbed the cold but the thin layer of leather on her bare skin couldn't keep warmth. For some reason she had weakened. Maybe it was because she had given away the last thing which made her human- her baby. All this time it was Lyra that had held the strength and warmth that Zacklrina needed beside the cold-blooded Lich King.

His big armada of men, 8 by 10, were standing in front of the couple, loyal and brave as anyone could be.

"Tonight there will be no war," The King announced

The soldiers booed in disapproval.

"Silence, you worthless pieces of scourge!"

Zacklrina tried hard to stop her shivering but she knew she had to stand beside the beast until his speech was over.

"Tonight you will be alert. Soon a group of people, who are not to be killed yet, I REPEAT, NOT TO BE KILLED, will come and I will have some business with them."

The crowd stayed obedient and silent. Zack's body trembled and she couldn't bare this no longer, she didn't feel her feet. As she pushed away the fear of being yelled at, she touched the Lich's hand piece and moved her head towards the tents, signaling her wish to leave.

"A moment," he said in his low metallic voice. "Are we clear, men?"

They cheered. Yes.

"Well, what are you waiting for, go get your positions!"

The perfect formulation of them scattered as all of them went to their assigned places. Zack hurried back into the warm tent. She started removing the cold armour to let some heat near her body. Suddenly she felt cold from behind. The Lich had come in as well.

"Not so fast," he ordered and sat down in his small throne in the tent. "You may continue."

He watched her very closely, every move she made. Not because he was suspicious but because he was a man. And because he believed Zacklrina was his… by right.

The girl removed the helmet, letting her hair out. It landed with such grace on her back, the monster hadn't seen any hair as beautiful as hers. She continued by removing all of the heavy gear until she was left with the leather undercloth so the metal wouldn't grind against her body all day. She left the gear on the ground and walked to the throne.

"Is there anything you wish, My Lord?" she stood in front of him.

He traced his hand along the girl's shoulder down to her fingers. Then pulled the edge of the leather shirt. "Would you?"

Zacklrina straightened her back, gracefully and slowly removed her shirt, revealing her tight breats and coarse skin. The Lich King chuckled in approval.

"You made a good speech today, my Lord. Nice and short."

"That's the exact opposite of what I'm planning to give you today," he snickered.

Zacklrina blushed, knowing what would come next. What she really didn't know was how much longer she could continue this act for some bastard who called himself King. The only king Zacklrina knew was King Varian Wrynn, the father of Prince Anduin Wrynn.

The Lich stood up from his chair and admired the girl. He rarely took off his armour, especially in places and situations like these where you never knew what would happen.

He touched the girl, smelled her hair, pressed himself upon her, not caring how much the metal would hurt her bare skin.

"You smell good today," he murmured as he pulled her hair so her face would look right up at him.

They heard someone approach their tent, a scourge most likely.

"Fortunately for you, I'm not in the mood today," he growled and pushed the girl away. "Get dressed or I'll have someone do it!"

The scourge entered the tent. "They have arrived, my Lord."

He hastily left the tent, leaving the half naked girl on the floor. The scourge laughed and went after him.

I wonder who he's meeting. Or what he has planned. Oh damn it, he stepped on my gear again, that bastard. Okay up we go… Wonder when he'll realize I'm not his little bitch anymore…But when should I attack. Oh well… Wish I brought some more clothes with me, these pieces of leather won't do me any good… Guess he likes skinny women, I can't stand being naked in front of him. There's barely any meat on me. I hope I get to eat soon… something cooked… At last, found the lambskins, it's so warm here… I'll go beside the fire. Good. Nice and warm. Footsteps. What? Not scourge… not him… oh my, could it be…?

Her heartbeat fastened and she got to her feet, still wrapped inside the blankets. To her surprise it was a person she expected the least of all.

Prince. Prince Anduin Wrynn, who had given her the necklace…. The Claw of Deathwing.

They were both stunned. Anduin stood at the opening, then closed it so the cold wouldn't get in. He had risen his sword but now dropped it.

"Wh-what are you doing in here?" he asked in surprise.

Zacklrina fell to her knees and forced herself to cry. "Prince Anduin, my savior. The Lich King has imprisoned me with a spell. I can't—I can't leave!"

"By the name of all the Lords!" he exclaimed and helped the girl stand up. Then hugged her as tightly as he could.

Though his armour was cold, she could finally touch a real human again, after so long.

"Anduin, Sir, I am so sorry I haven't returned from the war. I got caught and I was brought to him. I haven't had any contact with anybody for months," she lied as Anduin caressed her hair and held her.

"You must not worry now. I will save you," he loosened the embrace, "but where is the Lich King?"

"He was told that his business partners had arrived," Zacklrina explained and dried her tears.

Anduin laughed. "Oh, how I have failed. I sent a fake group of bandits to the entrance so I could slip in here and gather some information of my own! But instead I find a gorgeous girl dressed as a..."

"You? You're the business partner?"

"Oh come, come, don't be surprised. I'm old enough to do a little business of my own."

"But I don't understand… You work for the Alliance… You must be working undercover then?"

He shook his head and walked around the tent. "How wrong can you be? My dear, dear girl…I have never obeyed my father. He is a useless runt! He can't get anything done!"

Anduin got mad and kicked a wooden box. He tried to calm down. Zack was shocked but still stood there.

"Look, the plan is to kill my father. The Lich King and I have similar interests. Why not join him and get what I want much faster? It's a win-win. Of course, I have no other plans with that monster. Once I rule the Alliance, or as I would like to call it, the Lands of Anduin The Great, I would gladly dispose of him, but there must always be a Lich King. But those are future plans," he explained.

Zacklrina tried to pull herself together because everything she knew about the Father and Son had been wrong. "What would you have me do?"

"Join me in arms and once we've got rid of my father you will marry me."


	17. The Humans' Plan

"That is quite the proposal. But as I said before, it's not possible for me to leave the Lich's side. I am bound to him, Prince Anduin."

"What do you propose then?" he looked clueless.

Look at him. He's a mess. I remember seeing him in Stormwind when he gave me the necklace. I can't believe he truly wants to murder his own father. How foolish can one be?! Well there is only one way I can make him trust me. The only way I can go back to Lyra… And Andri. And of course all the others as well…

"You said you need the Lich's help to defeat King Varian?"

"No—not need. I could just use a helping hand, that's all," he defended himself.

"Yes, of course. But I cannot help you… or marry you, unless the Lich King…" she whispered her words now, "… is dead."

Anduin looked confused.

"If you help me kill the Lich King, Prince, then I will gather everyone I know and we will help you deafeat King Varian."

"Two kings you say?"

"It's a win-win, my dear Prince," she smiled.

Anduin thought about it carefully. He watched the girl and sighed. "There is no easy way to kill the Lich. Maybe we could find a way to just put him to sleep for a while. Oh, and do you still have my necklace? It may prove to be vital on our mission."

"Yes, of course, my dear Prince," she answered and ran to the corner of the tent to retrieve the Claw of Deathwing. She had kept it all these months. Almost 11 months already. It was weird to think that about 2 years ago she started her journey from Northshire. That her family was still alive. That Joe, the guy the same age as her from her village, spit on her and made her look bad. It was weird to think what she could do now, how powerful she was now. Or well, not at the moment, for she was dressed in thin leather clothing and wrapped in lambskin.

She gave him the necklace. "My Prince, have we agreed? Will you help me defeat the Lich King?"

He grabbed the necklace and laid eyes on it. "Yes. We've agreed."

The following day was much more promising. Anduin had set camp next to the Lich's. All the guards were alert if anything were to happen. The deal between the Lich King and Anduin had to be done first thing in the morning.

Zacklrina knew the plan, so did Anduin and his men. The Lich had no idea what the humans´ real intentions were, or even that they talked to each other. All of them were outside, Zacklrina sticking to the back so she could get a clear shot. The Lich King and Anduin shook hands. That was the signal. Behind every scourge was one of Anduin's men though the Prince was far too outnumbered. When the signal was given and the men started fighting, Zack ran to the Lich King, looking confused.

"What is this supposed to be?" he roared and hit Anduin with his sword that the poor boy landed on ice and rock, banging his head.

Zacklrina saw her only hope of getting out of here, gone. The Lich King walked over to the dying boy.

"You thought you could betray me like that?" his voice was pure evil.

Zacklrina just stood there hearing the battle, men screaming and chopping each other's heads off. She felt her blood pumping faster and faster. The Lich King was slowly drawing his sword and threatening to kill Anduin. But Zacklrina couldn't let that happen. She pulled the straps off her death knight armour so it fell off and under it was the beautiful hunter leather clothing she had worn when she had just come to the Lich King. She took her bow from the ground and aimed an arrow straight towards the Lich.

"Lich King!" she shouted so all could hear.

The scourge and men alike looked at her, so did the Lich King. All noise stopped but the strong wind with small flakes of snow continued their small battle of nature.

"When I reached the age of 18 I swore my father I would kill you with an arrow to your chest!"

He laughed. He just laughed but Zack wouldn't let that disturb her.

"They say no man can kill you!" she shouted through the strong wind. "But I am no man!"

And with that she released the arrow which flew and flew and flew straight through his powerful armour, just one arrow made from the one and only wood of Elwynn Forest and with the Claw of Deathwing as the pile.

The Lich King stood silently and then fell to the ground with a loud thump. It wasn't the end of him yet.

Nothing changed in her, she felt the battle closing in. Chaos followed. The battle continued, dozens of scourge attacking Zack but somehow all of them were killed before they got to her. She ran to Anduin and gave him first aid.

"Where are your healers, Anduin?!"

"I… I don't have any! I let… my last one go," he barely made out the words.

Zacklrina looked around, fortunately, whatever Gods had been watching upon her, left some Anduin's men alive.

They took cover in a nearby tent and she patched him up.

"I'm sorry this had to happen," she apologized though it wasn't her fault.

"My father will see about this," he grunted.

There was blood everywhere.

"You should've attacked sooner. Now I'm of no use anymore!"

"Please, my Prince, you must keep quiet."

"ARGHH it hurts!"

And it did hurt because Zacklrina remembered the pain at Mount Hyjal. She really knew pain.

She managed to heal the Prince so he would live but he still needed at least a week of recovery before assassinating anyone. She left him in the tent to finish the battle but there was no one else to save. The few survivors tried to heal themselves or get something to drink. She approached one of them.

"Did you come by foot?" she asked.

"No, Miss. Our gryphons are a few miles from here. I can bring them here if you'd like," he started coughing up blood.

"No need," she said. "I'll bring them myself."

"Miss!" he said before Zack could fetch the mounts. "Whatever the Prince has in mind, don't go forth with the plan. We all joined because we needed a few coins… We're not bandits, really. That's what he likes to call us."

Zacklrina stopped and sat beside the injured man then gave him water.

"Thank you… Word has it that Prince wants to kill his father, King Varian."

"I'm not surprised," Zack looked at the tent which held Anduin.

"But that's not all," he coughed, then drank. "They say he needed a strong ally, a long range shooter. But one can't simply ask to kill the King, am I right?"

She nodded.

"A long time ago Deathwing flew over Stormwind, destroying part of the city. But indoing so, Deathwing injured himself and lost a claw. The claw was brought to Varian Wrynn as a reminder that revenge must be had.

Deathwing, of course, did not like having a piece of him in the hands of our King. When word spread that Anduin, his son, had been given the Claw from his father as a gift, and was secretly raising an army in the forests, Deathwing ordered his dragons to attack Elwynn. Anduin, of course, only wanted to kill his father to gain more power. Therefore he needed a skilled partner and fast, before Elwynn would be completely destroyed by the raging drakes.

He asked the first person he saw, a young hunter, full of ambition and easy to manipulate. But she had to leave. He gave her the Claw which would guarantee her safe return so he could get the killing done fast. Instead of forcing, he asked her to marry him. When married, she couldn't refuse helping him with his grand plan."

"I don't see where this is going. Anduin had the Claw and draogns of Deathwing threatened Elwynn. Why couldn't he just give the Claw back to Deathwing so the fires would stop?"

"You see, the girl never returned with the claw and the fires grew bigger. Anduin was also too proud to give something like that away. Instead he wanted to gain more power and defeat Deathwing once and for all.

He had to act fast because he had lost the claw and the girl. So one day he decided he'd need the help of the Lich King. Once they would kill King Varian together, Anduin would have the throne, become King himself, make decisions and kill Deathwing. What would happen with the Lich King after, he does not care.

All he wanted was peace in Elwynn but most of all… he wants to rule… the Eastern Kingdoms and Northrend."

Zacklrina gasped as she realized it was all Anduin's fault that her family had died. She looked down and covered her face with her hands. "Then we must kill Anduin too for he is responsible for all the dragons in Elwynn Forest and has evil intentions to kill King Varian... So are you saying I could stop Deathwing's grudge just by taking the Claw… and giving it to him? After all, it's the only thing keeping the Lich King dead… at least for now."

"No, I believe you can defeat Deathwing on your own and the Lich King can stay asleep."

Zack tried to force a smile.

"Miss…If I may ask… Are you the girl?"

"Which girl?"

"Heh… it must be just a story then."

She fetched the gryphons and the survivors with Anduin flew back to Borean Tundra where they took the fastest ship back to Stormwind, Eastern Kingdoms.


	18. Back To Hyjal

*Andri's POV*

They had all settled in the Headquarters. Though Sin had offered Tessa to join the guild, (which was against everything Sebastian had said), she refused but promised to stay until they could find a safe place for the child. After all, she felt responsible cause she had known Zack the longest. They had had many meetings and arguments about where the child should grow up.

It was a warm and sunny afternoon when Andri came back from a short hunting trip with some of the new hunters. They brought back boars and rabbit, some of them had even gathered mushrooms and plants.

When he went to the main room all the others were waiting for him; Sebastian and Tessa on one side of the table, all ready for another journey, Adorica preparing healing pads and Sin carefully holding the baby in her arms.

"So what have we decided?" Andri asked and put down his prey, bow and sack of arrows.

"It was a complicated decision," Sin looked at Sebastian, "but since Tessa is so eager to protect the baby with her life and Sebastian has no missions at the moment, they're the ones going to take the baby to the sacred isle of Pandaria, where Lyra can grow up in a peaceful environment and safe from harm."

Adorica finished packing the last medical kit and gave them to Sebastian. "Alyssa delivered a letter from King Varian this morning. I'm not sure what it's about but what I've heard from frequent gossip, the battle at Mount Hyjal might be happening again. They're calling it the Firelands now, there's a portal too… That's why we've assigned Sebastian to go with Tessa."

Sebastian scoffed in disgust.

Andri took the baby from Sin and asked to be left alone for a while. The others respected that and went outside to get the horses ready.

"So I hear you're going to Pandaria," he smiled and caressed her cheek. "One day I'll come and tell you the truth about everything, I promise."

Lyra softly sighed in her sleep and turned her head.

Andri couldn't help but smile. Somehow he had always knows that Lyra was his but never asked himself the question how. "I love you," he whispered and kissed her forehead.

Sebastian yelled his name so he carried her outside and gave her over to Tessa.

"I put all my faith in you, dear rogue."

Tessa took the baby and safely attached it to her back. "Don't cha worry, Andy. Yer bro 'ere will look after 'er too."

"May the spirits watch over you," Andri bowed in farewell and hurried back inside to open the letter.

Adorica had been right, he had been invited to join some quests in Firelands. He sighed and sat down. Put his hair back and rested in front of the fireplace. Nightshadow, his wolf, appeared from somewhere and sat beside him.

"I don't think you're coming with me this time."

Nightshadow whimpered.

"Go keep an eye on the new hunters while I'm gone. Can you do that?"

Disappointed, he walked away, his tail and ears down with sadness.

"…Why me?" Andri mumbled, tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Sin asked as she came in and sat beside him.

"No, it's nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

Andri stood up and threw the letter into the fire and watched the flames eat up the paper and within a dozen of seconds it was gone.

He travelled to Stormwind on the fastest gryphon they had. He didn't know what this hole in heart was. Maybe not knowing where or how Zacklrina was. Maybe it was because he couldn't relive the memories at Mount Hyjal where the girl had been hurt. The gryphon gained speed and his heart started racing faster. He heard a choir of men singing in him accompanied by the low beat of drums. The wind was on his face, it was warm. The weather was getting warmer as well since it was mid-spring. He felt as if things were getting better now. The positive melody in his hunter-heart knew that good days were soon to come. Andri didn't know exactly how or when, but he had had enough sleepless nights of tracking her down that it must pay off sooner or later.

Once he landed exactly in front of King Varian's castle, the guards got shaky. Andri noticed a scroll in both of their hands.

"Ishnu-alah," he greeted them.

"Greetings," they responded.

"May I see the King?"

"Of course, proceed up the stairs."

He chuckled. "I do know they way…"

"Sir, excuse me, sir!"

"Are you new?"

"Yes, recruited yesterday, Sir."

"The name's Andri," he put out his hand.

"Sir! I mean… King's honor, friend," the guard shook his hand. "Going to war?"

"How did you know?"

"It's a _time_ of war."

"May your troubles be diminished," he bowed and ran up the stairs.

It too was quiet in the castle and only the King himself was in the throne room except for the guards. Andri took fast steps towards Varian.

"Stormwind is reborn!" he laughed and hugged Andri.

"Your Majesty," he bowed.

"You've received my personal letter, have you not?"

"Indeed I have."

"Stormwind honors your service to the Allinace, Andri. And I have faith in you. I will personally accompany you to the Firelands."

"I would be honored."

The King had a friendly smile. "You see, one can't trust anybody these day. I'm just in need of a bodyguard beside me."

"I do so with honor, Your Majesty."

The two men walked into the castle garden where a female night elf held a portal.

"All's ready, Your Majesty," she informed them.

Andri entered first, without hesitation. The air here was thick and familiar. Memories of smoke and fire clouded his mind. He tried to shake it off as Varian followed him.

"We will go straight through another portal, hunter. It's that way."

They sneaked around the battle-scared forest. Andri remembered all of it. Too clearly even. He remembered Zack's dying voice and the grip he had on her when he healed her. Every step he and Varian made closer to the portal, was another step filled with memories. Andri didn't understand how decades and decades of practice and fighting didn't make him immune to these feelings. All because of a girl, a lost girl.

They finally arrived at the portal on top of a hill undetected.

"I thank you, Andri. But our struggles are far from over. The enemy as we know it, has changed."

"Please do explain."

"We've fought against the Horde for far too long. Yet we never realized we face a bigger enemy, together. Ragnaros and his fire elementals have caused far too much trouble but we cannot hold them back on our own. From now on, Horde and Alliance fight together in battle to defend the ones we love."

Andri's body shook. He looked at the ground and took a deep breath.

"Nonetheless, my Lord, we cannot always save the ones we love."

Varian saw the pain in his eyes but couldn't fully decipher the meaning. "You know very well who we fight for. The people still alive. We do not dwell on past memories because they make us weak," he emphasized. "Your work is done now. Return home, hunter. Clear your mind before entering battle. Have a beer, leave your weapons and enjoy a good meal."

"I will, thank you, my Lord."

"I will go for a bit, could you wait for me here, hunter?"

"Understood."

"Fare you well."

Andri bowed and Varian entered the Firelands through the next portal. He had nothing else to do. It seemed as if quests, gold and rest had no more meaning. He didn't know who to fight for anymore. It wasn't long before he noticed a set of tracks on the ground, they were fresh too. It seemed to be an animal of some kind, a wolf or a cougar. But there were none here that he was aware of. Slowly, he moved through the shadows of trees, almost flawlessly, following the tracks. They had to be one of a weak animal, he pointed out. Suddenly he heard movement. The animal seemed to have found him as well and approached him now. Andri turned around and saw a familiar gray wolf. It was limping and walked towards him. It didn't show any sign of sicknesses which would have affected him so he crouched down and let the wolf sniff his hand. It did so but it's nose was rather dry and it instantly curled up in front of him and looked deep into his eyes.

"It can't be," he mumbled. "Scythe?"

The wolf made an ugly and weak howl in response.

"Are you a sign from Elune and Malorne?"

He couldn't believe it. He had found Zacklrina's missing wolf. It had been living in these forests for months.

Andri took the wolf from the ground and held it. Scythe was far too light for his age. Andri ran back to the mouth of the portal with the wolf in his hands. Soon enough Varian came out and told Andri to go straight back to Arathi Highlands after getting to Stormwind. They both returned to Stormwind and Andri taking Zacklrina's wolf with him as he went back to Arathi Highlands.


	19. Sebastian and his Brother

Tessa and Sebastian had been switching holding Lyra every three hours. As a rogue, Tessa did not have the strength to carry a growing baby for as long as Sebastian could. Over the weeks, the tension had soothed but Sebastian did still not approve of Tessa's choices to stay in his guild, without fully being a member.

"Sebastian, we 're doing the right thing, takin' her away, ye?" Tessa asked, swirling her hair around her finger.

Sebastian sighed and eyed the rogue up and down. They were slowly approaching Ironforge from where they were going to take a tram to Stormwind and then board Skyfire, the Alliance gunship to Pandaria.

Sebastian kept telling himself that he was only doing this for Andri, because he seemed to care for the baby. Deep beneath his lost feelings, he knew what family meant, still respecting old traditions. When Tessa started whistling to dwarven songs she had heard all around the inns of Azeroth, Sebastian stopped her.

"D'you ever even have fun, Seb?" Tessa asked, a bit bothered.

"No."

"Well ya've been sayan' Andri's a brother 'n all. I don' see that happenin', to be honest, he must be hundreds of years old n' well you don't seem wrinkled, yet."

"Could we not walk in silence?"

"I mean, sure, ya' step-brother but the Lich King killed his parents, so…"

They walked another 50 meters without Sebastian talking on the topic. "If you must know, Tessa, it is not a beautiful story to be told."

"Just curious," she answered.

Sebastian sighed. "I was but a little boy when my parents died in war. For years I grew up in the Stormwind orphanage. The only fun we had growing up was Children's week, which is coming up soon."

Tessa nodded. She had heard of that. On Children's week strong fighters took orphans out to see some of the not-so-dangerous places so even they could grow up to be fighters. Well, some of them, apparently, even did.

In my last year of being in the orphanage, was 17 at the time, a brave night elf came and asked me if I wanted to see some real action. That, of course, was strictly forbidden, but you see, forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest and I longed to see a real fight, growing up near a holy place and all," Sebastian chuckled, remembering his childhood. "The night elf hunter took me to see his homeland as well, since I was old enough to travel continents already. I had never seen structures as beautiful and stunning as the nightelven ones. Teldrassil, the island of the night elves, became close to me."

"I still don't see Andri in all this," Tessa disturbed.

"Tessa, could you please let me finish for once?"

She nodded and smiled at the sleeping baby on Sebastian's back.

"I met with the hunter's parents and they took me in. As I had forgotten the love of my own parents, it seemed a way out of my miserable life. Soon after the end of Children's week, I became of age but the Archbishop Benedictus, leader of the Church of the Holy Light in Stormwind Cathedral, said I did not have any special role until my death. Looking back at it, he was quite right."

They both laughed.

"At 18 I was a free man but with no experience or a lot of gold. I could have become a blacksmith or a leatherworker but I was not drawn towards those professions. I missed the green musky air of the night elven lands. So, what other choice did I have, soon enough I was knocking on the door of the hunter's parents and they had no problem letting me stay with them."

Sebastian looked at Tessa because she hadn't said a word for quite a while now. "Is something the matter, rogue?"

Tessa shook her head and they kept walking.

"We lived together for years, although their son, the hunter, lived in his guild, in Arathi Highlands."

"So the hunter _was _Andri all along?" Tessa asked surprised, finally putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Andri was already a strong fighter and earned himself quite the name and reputation. I had respect for him since I first met him and there appeared to be no rivalry. His parents liked having someone at home, though living in Teldrassil as a human was not quite right, as you may understand. So I left Teldrassil after years of living amongst night elves to find my own destiny. But, Tessa, life is not all fun and games. Andri's fame had caught the eye of the Lich King and he needed more scourge in his army. Word got out that I had gone learning the way of the sword in Northrend, ignoring the words of Archbishop Benedictus. The scourge were sent after me immediately, because I was Andri's weakness, I was family. Before Andri could get to me to save me, his parents did."

Sebastian stopped. "We were all killed. Only I was resurrected by the Lich King and became a death knight."

Silence fell on both of them and wind brought snowflakes from the sky. They were approaching Dun Morogh, the region of Ironforge.

"After I had broken my bond with the Lich King and came to serve the Alliance, again, Andri was the first and only being who accepted me back into the Alliance society. Even though he had lost all because of me, I was the only thing remaining in his life at the same time. After long and hard trials Sin approved of me and I was recruited into the Knights of Sin guild."

"You may not be bound by blood but you are bound by past," Tessa finally said.

Sebastian nodded, "you could say that."

"I understand now," Tessa explained. "Why becoming part of a guild means so much to you. They took you in after all you had been through and they became the family you needed. Who knows, maybe I will be worthy of a guild once!"

Sebastian could not help but smile, having a stone lifted from his shoulders. Maybe the rogue wasn't so bad at all.


End file.
